We are down on earth and our goal is to get back to live with our Heavenly Father, but there are two cliffs in our way!  They are too wide to jump and too steep to climb down. We realize we cannot, by ourselves, get back! Only when we realize how desperately helpless we are on our own, can we truly start to appreciate the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He, and He alone, has the ability to save us and oh, how we need to be saved!

What are these two cliffs (obstacles) that prevent us from getting back?

“The Fall of Adam brought two kinds of death into the world: physical death and spiritual death. Physical death is separation of the body and spirit. Spiritual death is separation from God. If these two kinds of death had not been overcome by Jesus Christ’s Atonement, two consequences would have resulted: our bodies and our spirits would have been separated forever, and we could not have lived again with our Heavenly Father (see 2 Nephi 9:7–9, 11-12).”
–Gospel Principles, Chapter 12, “The Atonement”

OVERCOMING PHYSICAL DEATH (Purpose #1)

The first obstacle is physical death – which is the separation of our spirits from our bodies. I hate to break it to you, but none of us are getting out of this world alive =) The good news, however, is that Jesus Christ has power over death. The grave could not hold him. After three days, He was resurrected and because He was resurrected, all of us will be resurrected too.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”
(1 Corinthians, 15:29)

Who will be resurrected and what will our bodies be like when we are resurrected?

43 The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt.
44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.
(Alma 11:43-44)

Every person who has ever lived on the earth will be resurrected – even the wicked people. The resurrection is a free gift to us from our Savior. We don’t have to do a thing to earn it. He builds this first bridge for us and we cross freely.

Our bodies will be perfect. Our bodies will not get hungry, hurt, tired, or sick. No more disease, no more wheelchairs, and no more physical limitations. I can’t wait for that!

A SAD WAY TO DIE…

When I was younger, my mom told me about how her friend, who had not been going to church for a long time, started coming regularly. Her friend, whom we will call Betty, had a father-in-law who was dying. He was in the hospital and knew he didn’t have long to live. He did not believe in God and he was terrified to die. It was so bad that every time he started to fall asleep, he would start screaming – he was afraid he wouldn’t wake up again! He truly thought that death was the end – that you simply stopped existing. It was the saddest thing Betty had ever seen. She tried to comfort him, “Dad, it will be okay. There’s a life after death. There’s a resurrection. We will see each other again.” But it was no use. Nothing seemed to comfort him. Her heart ached for him. She watched him die in a miserable, panicked state and she swore she was not going to die like that! She grabbed her husband and told him, in no uncertain terms, that they were going back to church!

Death truly would be petrifying if it weren’t for the gift of the resurrection. We don’t know when we will be called home, but if we have kept the commandments to the best of our abilities and loved God with all our heart, might, mind, and strength, then we need have no fear – it will be a glorious event (although, admittedly, at first it doesn’t always seem so glorious to those of us who are left behind to mourn). The only tragedy in death is for those who have lived contrary to the Lord’s commandments.

The prophet Abinadi testified, “But there is a resurrection, therefore the grave hath no victory, and the sting of death is swallowed up in Christ.”
(Mosiah 16:8)