As I
have taught the Old and New Testament in Sunday School over the past year and a
half, I have been delighted to see how beautifully the Bible and Book of Mormon
work together to help us understand what Jesus Christ does
for us through His Atonement. For example,
in the Bible the prophet Isaiah describes a symbol of Christ* in this way: “And I will fasten him as a nail in a sure
place” (Isaiah 22:23). When Jesus was
crucified, the Romans used iron nails to fasten Him to the wood of the
cross. Nails are connectors. They secure things, hold them up, and provide
support. This symbol may remind us of
another place in the scriptures where a length of iron provides support and
connection. In the Book of Mormon, Lehi
and Nephi saw in vision an iron rod that formed a connection leading to the tree of life (1
Nephi 8, 11). As we sing in the hymn, the
iron rod is the word of God. But back in
the Bible, the apostle John described Jesus as the word made flesh (John 1:14).
Jesus is the word of God in person. So the iron rod is a symbol of Jesus, and iron
nails are a symbol of Jesus. As the Book
of Mormon teaches, because of Adam’s fall (Alma 42:6) and our own sins (2 Nephi
2:5), we are cut off forever from the tree of life and the blessings of the
love of God. Jesus is the bridge, the
connector, the iron rod or iron nail that connects us with Heavenly Father’s
love and blessings as represented by the tree of life. The long iron rod reminds us that it takes
time and work on our part to reach all the blessings. The short iron nail reminds us that our
connection with God’s love and blessings comes through Christ’s agony on the
cross and in the garden of Gethsemane during His Atonement. Isn’t it powerful how these symbols from the
Bible and Book of Mormon work together to teach us of our Savior?
The Book of Mormon explains how Christ is the connector when we pray. I remember years ago praying and telling Heavenly Father that I felt close to Him because I talked with Him each day in prayer, but I didn’t feel as close to Jesus because I didn’t address Him in my prayers. In 3 Nephi 18:19, Jesus taught that we should always pray in His name to our Heavenly Father. But in 3 Nephi 19:18, we see the disciples kneeling and praying directly to Jesus Christ, and in verse 22, Jesus explains that they are praying to Him because He is with them. Then in verse 23 we see Jesus praying to the Father for the disciples as they continue to pray to Him. From these verses, we realize that when we pray in Jesus’ name, it is as if we are addressing Jesus and asking Him to carry our words to our Father in Heaven. Jesus is the connector that makes communication by prayer possible. Each time we pray, it is actually a group conversation with both Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father involved, so we can feel close to both of Them through prayer.
Our connection with God's love and blessings grows stronger as the mighty change progresses in our hearts through Christ's Atonement. We do not apply the Atonement the way we apply Windex to clean windows. We don’t just spray it on to wipe off our sins, then put the bottle back on the shelf. The Atonement literally means at-one-ment, or the process of becoming united with God. It enables a very personal, intimate progression that happens between each of us and our Savior, involving scrubbing sins, wiping away tears, shouldering burdens, shoring up weak spots, and polishing strengths. Jesus described this process in both the Bible, during the Intercessory Prayer (John 17), and in the Book of Mormon, when He visited after His resurrection (3 Nephi 19), so you know it must be important if it’s described in both books of scripture. Jesus explained that we are purified through faith, and then He comes to be in us the way the Father is in Him (3 Nephi 19:28-29). Through this process of becoming perfect in one (John 17:22-23), we are first cleansed and healed, and then we are blessed to begin to see, think, feel, speak and act more and more like Jesus and Heavenly Father. In the Old Testament, Ezekiel gives us a beautiful explanation of this change. In Ezekiel 36:24-28, the Lord promises to “take you from among the heathen . . . and from all your filthiness . . . will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh . . . and I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes . . . and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.” These teachings in the Book of Mormon and Bible help us understand that there is a higher purpose to our gospel ‘To Do’ list than just checking off the boxes so we feel like we’re earning our way into heaven. In the Book of Mormon, King Benjamin made it clear that we can’t ever earn our way into heaven anyway (Mosiah 2:21, 24), and Paul taught the same thing in the Bible (Romans 3:23-24, 27). All these commandments and covenants we’re trying to learn and live are the way to invite Jesus Christ Himself to use His atoning power to work a mighty change in our hearts. It is His power that will change and save us, but He won’t force that wonderful change upon us (Alma 5:14,33-34; 2 Cor. 3:15-18). We have to invite it through our obedience to His words. This is how we offer our “whole souls as an offering unto him” (Omni 1:26, Mark 12:33), so He can fix us and then fill us with the love and joy that He and our Heavenly Father possess.
As I have come to better understand in recent years how Christ’s Atonement works, I have felt so relieved to realize that I don’t have to be strong enough to save myself. I don’t have to be strong enough to be perfect right now. I don’t even have to be strong enough to love myself, because my Savior is strong enough to do it for me. I just have to reach for His hand each day and keep offering my whole soul to Him as I keep growing in my ability to obey. As we get to know our Savior better through sweet experiences with the scriptures and the Spirit, our hope becomes unshaken in His great atoning, connecting power (Jacob 4:6, Hebrews 3:6). Christ’s grace really is sufficient for us (Moroni 10:32, 2 Cor. 9:8). It is everything we need.
* Isaiah described Eliakim, who was in turn a symbol of Christ. “Isaiah made a symbol of . . . Eliakim. His name means ‘God shall cause to arise,’ anticipating the Savior, who holds the ‘key of the house of David’ but was fastened ‘as a nail in a sure place’ until the burden of the Atonement was complete. Upon Him rests ‘all the glory of his father’s house.’ Isaiah recommended depending on Him for everlasting security (Isa. 22:20–25 and fn.)” (Ellis T. Rasmussen, A Latter-day Saint Commentary on the Old Testament [1993], 517–8).
