"The Pure Love of Christ"

I have learned a great many things along the way to eternal life. This walk of faith has taught me a large variety of things the one more exquisitely delightful than the other. I have come to experience and witness truths which transcend mortality and spring forth into the eternities; indeed, I have learned from my Maker. 

Of the things I have come to know and cherish, without a doubt amongst the very most eternally significant is the fact that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is the most intricate expression of love ever to have been shown forth under heaven. No other event throughout the history of Creation, no matter how morally commendable, has demonstrated what would come remotely close to a match with the infinite bounty so gracefully imbedded in the redeeming sacrifice of the God of all the earth. It has come to my attention through diligent prayer that this aforementioned love is made manifest by the life and death of Jesus Christ in two main considerations: first, in the solace it provides; second, in the selflessness wherewith it was granted.

Life is replete with instances of discouragement, of fear and of worry, and yet deliverance is always unfailingly available to whosoever seeks to obtain it at the hand of He who is mighty to save. No individual, having received and tasted of the goodness of the graces of the Lord, could look upon the mercy wherewith the Lord has blessed them and deny His power to soothe the angry, to comfort the afflicted and to relieve the burdened; indeed, the condescension of God is self-evident in the blessings bestowed upon those who ask in faith. Is not this eagerness to succor a testimony of the love of God? Additionally, we know that it is through the Savior's triumph over death that we are made eligible to the partaking of the gift of sustenance, of forgiveness and, sweetest of all, the gift of salvation; this willing providing of comfort, joy and gladness is convictive of the love of God for man, and testifies to whoso will lay hold upon the promises of God that the Lord does know how to "succor his people according to their infirmities" (Alma 7:12).

Concurrently, the very pretext of the Atonement could be regarded as almost single-handedly love-driven. We gain precious insight as to the underlying motives for the sacrifice of the Only Begotten in modern scripture; we read that the Son of Man "suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent" (D&C 19:16). As the spirit offspring of our beloved Heavenly Father, we are upborne through the suffering subsequent to mortality and relieved from the consequences of the shortcomings of the natural man on conditions of repentance. For our Creator to seek to preserve us from pain or anguish of any kind constitutes a splendid product of genuine compassion; to so protect us from harm is exactly what the Atonement aims to achieve. We are therefore justified in inferring that the redemption of mankind was wrought out of love and compassion.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ was an act of cheerful charity; and again, "charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever" (Moroni 7:47). The love of God is manifest in all things. It is as real as it never fails. I testify that Jesus Christ truly has "borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows" (Mosiah 14:4). He is our Master and our Redeemer, and has broken the chains of death that we may live forevermore in the mansions of His Father. I solemnly bear witness that the redemption of mankind is as grand as it is tangible; as glorious as it is personal. May we all strive to live by the grace of God, that we may one day enter into His rest. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.