Blessed Savior, Dear Redeemer

My token picture next to the horned frog on TCU's campus

I apologize for a short blog entry today, but Julianne is only in town for a few more hours and as much as I like writing, I'd rather spend time with her.  We've had a wonderful few days together.  She got into town about 7 pm on Friday and I made dinner for her.  Then on Saturday, our one real day to go and do activities together, after I showed Julianne around TCU's campus we went to the Dallas Museum of Art.  They have a wonderful collection, and we only scratched the surface of it.  But I must say there is something wonderful about seeing works by Monet and Picasso first hand.  The prints are beautiful and moving, but there is always something unique about seeing the original.  Yesterday on Sunday, we went to Church at my old ward so I could introduce Julianne to a few people who had really wanted to meet her and then since my brother Rob was at DFW for a few hours en route to Costa Rica, we went over to the airport to say hello to him.  All in all, it has been an amazing time and it is hard for me to see it coming to an end.

My short thought for the day comes after a question from a former bishop of mine this week.  He asked me what the difference between the duties of Savior and Redeemer is.  With Easter coming up, I thought this was an interesting question to ponder.  While I am sure there are probably some semantics at work here, this is what I came up with.

When I think of a savior, I think of someone who saves a person who otherwise would not be able to survive, who is in mortal or spiritual peril.  Each of us, as a result of our fallen natures has become "carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, [and frequently] subjecting [ourselves] to the devil" (Mosiah 6:3).  The prophets speak of us being lost and hopeless, unless there is an atonement and a Savior.  Amulek explained, "For it is expedient that an atonement should be made; for according to the great plan of the Eternal God there must be an atonement made, or else all mankind must unavoidably perish; yea, all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish except it be through the atonement which it is expedient should be made" (Alma 34:9).  In His capacity as our Savior, Jesus Christ offers to save us from our carnal selves, from that natural man within us that is "an enemy to God" (Mosiah 3:19).  He thus responds to and helps us to change our sinful nature which comes as a result of our mortality and our subsequent sinful choices here.

On the other hand, when I think of the term redeem, I think of one who restores an item or a person to its former high value.  And (please forgive the carnival analogy) I also think of someone who earns a prize and then gains the right to redeem that prize.  In His capacity as our Redeemer, Jesus Christ does both of these things for us.  In a sense we are like those prizes at a carnival that nobody ever seems to win because the games are rigged and it is nearly impossible to win.  Through His atonement, the Savior did the impossible and lived the perfect life, wrought the perfect atonement, and gained the victory over death.  As a result of this feat, Mormon tells us that He "hath ascended into heaven and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men" (Moroni 7:27).  He earned the right to redeem us.  He won the prize.  And because of Him, none of us need remain in an unredeemed state.  He will take any who are willing to come.  (Who doesn't want to leave a carnival as soon as possible, right?)

But beyond that, He restores us to our divine state.  He restores us to our capacity as our Father's children.  Because of the fall and our fallen natures, that divinity is occasionally obscured by our own poor choices.  We fall short of who we really are, and what we were really sent here to do.  But because there is a Redeemer, none need to remain in a lost and fallen state.  None need to be motivated and moved by the natural man.  We can be returned to that state of holiness and divinity with which we left the presence of our Heavenly Father.  And in actuality, because of the Savior, we can become more than we were then and better than we were in our premortal lives.  God did not send us here just to hopefully get a few of us back to our former status.  He sent us here to help us to grow and increase and become like Him, to become more than we had ever been before.  We can do this because we have a Savior who cleanses and removes our fallen nature and who restores to us our divine nature.  He truly is our "Blessed Savior, and Dear Redeemer."  May He guide us and may we be both saved and redeemed by His divine power!

Brett