Christ is our Savior

Perhaps the name we hear most frequently for Christ is the Savior, or Redeemer. Why is He called the Savior? What do we need saving from?

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, started their earthly sojourn in the Garden of Eden. They were innocent: They did not know of joy and sorrow, or good and evil. They lived in the presence of God and had all things provided for them. They were to eat freely from any tree, except the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Moses 3:17). However, the Lord gave them the option to choose. By eating of the fruit, they would obtain knowledge and experience, but they would be estranged from the presence of the Lord and would become subject to physical death.

When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, they chose to experience mortality and learn from experience. As a result, man became subject to physical death and spiritual death. “…for all mankind, by the fall of Adam being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to things temporal and to things spiritual,” (Helaman 14:16). The Lord in his wisdom, foresaw the fall of Adam and Eve and provided a plan for them and their posterity to return to his presence.

The Lord’s Plan: A Savior

During Christ’s mortal sojourn, He performed many miracles and touched many lives. But the most significant act He performed includes His suffering in the garden of Gethsemane and His death on the cross. We call this act the atonement.

“And he was withdrawn from them…and kneeled down, and prayed,
“Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. …
“And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground,” (Luke 22:41-42, 44)

What happened when He knelt down to pray? During this infinite act, He took upon himself the sins of the world and felt the pains and sorrows of every man. “For behold, blood cometh from every pore, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and abominations of his people,” (Mosiah 3:7). He suffered so that we might not suffer. In His own words, He said:

“I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent.
“But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I;
“Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the cup, and shrink--
“Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook…” (Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19)

After this infinite and eternal act, He returned to His apostles only to be betrayed by Judas and delivered into the hands of men. They beat Him. They spit on Him. They mocked Him. But He suffered it so that his Father’s plan could be fulfilled. They drove nails into His hands and feet and nailed Him to a cross. Though He could save Himself, He allowed Himself to be crucified by the hands of men, to fulfill His purpose on earth. Finally, His suffering ended when He cried with a loud voice, saying, “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost,” (Luke 23:46).

As the only begotten of the Father, He had power over death and was resurrected on the Third day--His spirit restored to His body no more to be parted.

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Christ is our Savior, Deliverer, and Redeemer. His infinite atonement provides a way for us to be saved from physical and spiritual death. He took upon himself the sins of the world so that we might not suffer if we repent. He is our advocate with the Father; because He led a perfect life and paid the price for our sins, the law of justice is fulfilled in Him and the law of mercy can be extended to us.

Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. “For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved,” (Acts 4:12, see also Mosiah 3:17). Without Him, we would not be able to return to our Father in heaven after this life. We would not be able to shed our sins through Christ’s atonement. We would die both physically and spiritually without any hope of redemption.

I know that the atonement is real. I have felt His forgiveness when I have sought repentance for my frequent mistakes. I have experienced the joy that comes through embracing the Savior and letting Him lift the pain of sin. I cannot begin to fathom the suffering He endured to provide us such a gift, which suffering cause Him, the God of all, to “bleed from every pore.” Though unfathomable it is, I know that it happened. He suffered all because He loves us. He wants us to be saved. His selflessness provides the way for all. I am forever grateful for His willingness to submit to the will of the father and fulfill His plan so that we might be saved.