Alma 7:10-14
I have for many years taken for granted that when the scriptures talk about Mary as a virgin, that this was just a given. I simply assumed that was just who she was. When in reality this is who she chose to be. It was a deliberate choice to keep herself clean and pure, that then qualified her for the role that she was blessed to receive.
The same realization must be made of our Savior. When the scriptures talk of his "suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind," what we must see is that, indeed, He chose to "take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." (vs. 11)
Another thought, that I find to be almost as paradoxical as it is true (and it is this way with most everything in the Gospel of Christ), is that we are to try to comprehend the infinite Atonement of Christ, when our minds are limited to the finite. The reality is that we will never be able to fully understand it in our present mortal state. We cannot comprehend it. And yet we are commanded to try to understand it. We are given a knowledge of it, and commanded to reverence this great and atoning sacrifice.
Yet it is real. Though it is greater than our capacity to comprehend it, it is real. It directly impacts us. In fact, we are governed by it according to the conditions and terms of its justice and mercy, and yet it is still something that we cannot ever quite fully wrap our minds around.
Because of Christ and His infinitely reaching Atonement, repentance becomes possible unto us. (See verse 14)
I have for many years taken for granted that when the scriptures talk about Mary as a virgin, that this was just a given. I simply assumed that was just who she was. When in reality this is who she chose to be. It was a deliberate choice to keep herself clean and pure, that then qualified her for the role that she was blessed to receive.
The same realization must be made of our Savior. When the scriptures talk of his "suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind," what we must see is that, indeed, He chose to "take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people." (vs. 11)
Another thought, that I find to be almost as paradoxical as it is true (and it is this way with most everything in the Gospel of Christ), is that we are to try to comprehend the infinite Atonement of Christ, when our minds are limited to the finite. The reality is that we will never be able to fully understand it in our present mortal state. We cannot comprehend it. And yet we are commanded to try to understand it. We are given a knowledge of it, and commanded to reverence this great and atoning sacrifice.
Yet it is real. Though it is greater than our capacity to comprehend it, it is real. It directly impacts us. In fact, we are governed by it according to the conditions and terms of its justice and mercy, and yet it is still something that we cannot ever quite fully wrap our minds around.
Because of Christ and His infinitely reaching Atonement, repentance becomes possible unto us. (See verse 14)
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