The earth explains the purpose of the Atonement of Jesus 

Why do we need the Atonement of Jesus? How does the Atonement reunite us with Jesus? Hear some surprising truths that the earth teaches about this glorious sacrifice.

What does the earth teach about the Atonement?

This Easter, as Christians celebrate the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, I wanted to understand it from a different perspective. What does the earth have to say about these events? What is this eternal perspective on Christ's time in the Garden Of Gethsemane and on the cross? What would the earth tell about what he did during the three days he was dead?

I went for a walk at Sunderbruch Park, and offered up these questions in prayer.

And as I was walking along, I felt a desire to come walk on the horse trail, and the spirit told me that the trail would give me the answer that I wanted. So here I am now on this trail, and we're going to listen to the trail and see what the trail has to say to answer this question. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The Atonement is Jesus calling us home

The land begins:

There are many men who are lost and do not know that they have a home. They are seeking and searching, for they know that there is something that is missing somewhere, but they don't know what it is. They don't actually know that they're lost, which is why they turn to drugs and alcohol and so many other things that are simply distractions. 

What they don't realize is that that is the voice of Jesus in their hearts calling them home. They just know that something doesn't feel right, and so they seek for distractions.

Jesus performed his Atoning sacrifice so that all may live with him again. He was the only one who was capable of doing so, for he was half God.

Without being half God, he would have succumbed and been overcome by the task. Even as it was, it was difficult even for him.

But in the grand scheme of things, it was very little suffering and very little that was required, even though he had to return all back home, given the nature and the scope of the work that he did. (see 2 Ne 9:7)

You are here in darkness and to experience the darkness and to look for the light in the darkness.

Without Jesus, there is no light. There is only dark. Without Jesus, there is no way back home.

The way back home is clearly marked

This is not a mystery, and it is not very complicated, but many people seek to make it more complicated. Yes, of course, there is the symbolism of death and rebirth, and all must undergo such death and rebirth and be born again, anew, and become new creatures in Christ. (see Mosiah 27:25-26, 2 Cor 5:17)

But it is also true that they simply must choose to follow him, and that will allow the process to occur naturally as the individual keeps seeking and learning of Jesus. There's nothing special that you have to do. You simply have to allow time to have its work.

This is the blessing of being on Earth. Things are slow. There is time. So the Atonement may work in you. The light of Christ may work in you.

Time was different for Jesus in the Atonement

Imagine a rock, a stone, a mountain being converted into dust, into air, into wind, into water. The process takes time.

So it is with your bones, with your sinews, with your joints, with your lungs, with all of you. It requires time. This is simply the way it is.

When Jesus was in the garden, he sweat even as it were drops of blood. (see Luke 22:44) This is not literal, but it is metaphorical, although there is truth to it.

His sweat was heavy and laid down with the transformative process that is required for all who seek and come onto him.

Time was compressed, if you will, and he was squeezed and pressed just as the olive is squeezed and pressed to get out every last drop of oil.

There was not time, in your time, as time is counted, for the Atonement to take what was required, unless time was compressed and he was squeezed in such manner.

Imagine if all of the suffering that you ever experienced and that you will experience happened in a short time and how intense that would be for you. That is similar to the process that he went through in the Garden Of Gethsemane.

There were many there to support him. For the flesh, as you know, is weak, very weak, and yet the spirit is strong. And as God, the spirit was strong, but his flesh needed sustaining. His spirit has already overcome all and been through all and is in all, which is why he is all around you even though it is dark.

Why was Jesus crucified? What is the meaning of his resurrection?

Now, you have inquired also to understand his crucifixion and his resurrection.

The body must die. There is no other alternative. It is a law. It is the nature of your experience here on earth and the nature of all that was created. All must die. But the spirit brings all to life, restores life, resumes life because Jesus created that law and that way and that path.

He could have, and so can others, choose to leave the body behind. But when you do so, you are yet tethered to it. You are not free from the body. The spirit and the body must separate fully and completely. This is death.

Then and only then can the spirit and the body be resurrected at the proper time and in the proper way and with the proper frame, according to the Law of Restitution of All Things. This is the resurrection. (see Alma 11:43-45, Jn 11:25-26)

This will happen for all beings, who ever have been and ever will be born upon this earth throughout all generations of time. It will happen for all at the right time. That time is not yet.

Jesus was left alone

When Jesus suffered on the cross, He had to allow his physical body to be without God, without the spirit, without the Father at the head. This was the only way he could die. Remember, he was half God. He would have stayed on the cross for eternity if the part of him that was God had not let go. This is why he cried out to his Father (see Matt 27:46)

It was the only time in his existence that he was without the spirit and without God and when he was human in its entirety. This was the necessary part to complete the Atonement.

In the garden, he experienced all that all humans have and will ever experience. But he still needed that part that was God for him to be able to bear it and endure it. On the cross, he came to know what it was like to truly be utterly alone. To feel that there is no one and none else that knows or understands. He was abandoned.

[Jen: I’m going interject here in my own voice for a second. This is all making me want to cry. It's very powerful. And I had never given thought to this, to what that experience was actually like and exactly what it meant. I'm going to return to the trail and see what else it has to share.]

Jesus is the light, and life of all

The land asks: You are on a path that many have walked before, are you not? Mhmm. Yes. 

Is the path the same for you as it was for others? Generally speaking, I would say yes. It's wide. It's mowed. It's easy to see and clear to follow and well marked.

Yes. So is the path to Jesus. It is wide and it is mowed. It is easy to follow and it is well marked. And yet because it is so clear, it is still difficult for most to see. It is not the main path, but it yet beckons to all, and it is where the light is.

Shine the light. Share the light. Show the light to others. This is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. To share the light, to shine the light, to show the light, to be the light. He lightens and enlivens all things.

Without him, there is no life. Those who believe that life ends with the death of the body, there is truth in that. If there was no Jesus, there would be no life after the death of the body. And therefore, if you don't believe in Jesus, there is no need for a resurrection, for there is no spirit. Now, of course, this is simply absurd, but all are allowed to believe and to choose as they will. That is also part of the plan.

Three days that Jesus was in the tomb

What else would you like to know about the resurrection and about Easter? Tell me about the time, the three days time between when Jesus was crucified and when he was laid in the tomb and when he rose again. 

Ah, yes. Three. Three is the earliest cycle of completion. It is the most stable form of becoming, if you will. The one divides itself into two, and then the two becomes three.

Now we can create. Now we can explore. Now we can become. Now we have three. Three is beginnings. Spring, fruition, creation.

Also, there is the practical aspect of this. After three days' time, the body would have begun to stink. His resurrection required some literal time so that it could be believed, so that it could be understood that it was a true resurrection from the dead. This is simply the practical aspect of it. So it was with Lazarus. (see Jn 11:32-45)

Time was necessary so that the miracle could be understood by those who had eyes to see and who were seeking and looking for it.

Child, those who have eyes to see will always see. All the truths are always there, plainly laid out. You see because you already know. Do not be afraid of your sight. Simply share what you know with others. They will see as well.

The meaning of Jesus descending below all as part of His Atonement

Tell me more about the three days, I say. What happened to Jesus's spirit, and what did he do while he was in the tomb? The part of him that was God, his spirit.

Oh, yes. Jesus descended below all. He descended below all so that all could rise again. Do you know what this means? No. I do not really understand what it means. Please explain it to me.

You have opposites in your world. You must have opposites so that you can choose. It is why things seem to be so evil. But without the evil, there is not the good.

Jesus experienced what it all felt like when he was in physical world, but his spirit [oh, I'm going to cry], His spirit also had to experience the spiritual realm of darkness.

As you know, that world is vast, vast in comparison to your physical earth. Jesus had to go to the places where the light is so minuscule that the darkness is almost suffocating.

He is in all and through all, and he created all. And yet all has had the ability to choose. That law has been there since the beginning.

Even in the spirit realm, there are those that choose darkness, as you know and as you have seen. Jesus went to these places. As you could perhaps imagine, it is somewhat torturous to be there.

If you imagine the things in your life that have brought you fear and darkness, compound that more times than you could probably even conceive of and shorten that into a time frame. All of the horror and the evil that men do to each other is nothing compared to these places.

He had to go there so that he could overcome them again and remind them and call them back. It was for him, and it was for you and for us and for all. The way is clearly marked and the path is clearly marked. All must choose to step on it, and once they are on it, they must choose to continue on it.

The meaning of love and sacrifice

The way is love. The way is always love. Love means obedience. (see Jn 14:15) Love means serving the darkness and caring for the darkness, reaching out to those who do evil to us.

Love is to bring light. Love is to obey. Love is to sacrifice. But the things that we sacrifice are actually the things that are darkness. We just don't realize they're darkness.

All sacrifice is giving up darkness for light. All true sacrifice, I will say. True sacrifice from a true heart, from seekers and finders. Is not this doctrine all glorious?

It is beautiful, I reply.

Yes. It is. Thank you for receiving and for asking.

The true meaning of the Passover

I have learned that it is often wise to ask if there is anything else to ask. The voice of spirit, when it is of God, will never coerce or force. It must be asked. Therefore, I said, is there anything else I should ask or anything else you have to share about what I have asked or we have already discussed?

Yes. Ask me the meaning of the Passover.

What is the meaning of the Passover?

The Passover, as you know, commemorates the experience of the Israelites who were in captivity. The lamb that was sacrificed, and the blood of the lamb that was put over the door of the homes, so that the angel of death may pass by. (see Exodus 12)

Yes. It was very sorrowful.

God does not like to lose any of his children for any period of time, but he knows that it must be done. He knows that all must choose.

The Egyptians had hardened their hearts to such great degree that they were no longer listening or learning. The pharaoh was so overcome with power and dominion and ruling. He was not able to see. The Passover brought light to those who were blind.

We can all experience our own Passover if we do not repent and humble ourselves and choose to see. We can also all be like the Israelites and allow the blood of Jesus to save us from the darkness.

The Passover was a symbol. Blood is cleansing because blood is life.

As the blood of Jesus brings life to all, so the blood of the lamb brought life to the Israelites.

Accept the laws of your land and of your earth. They are necessary. The more you understand them, the more ease you have in your experience on this world.

The blessing of the Passover, however, for the Egyptians, was that all those little ones came home.

All those who were innocent, all those who are not yet at the age of accountability were unblemished, and they were brought home. All those who had pure hearts hearts were brought home.

You allow the blood of Jesus to work in your life when you do his work, when you sacrifice for him, when you give up the things that you truly desire for the things that he would have you do.

You have been taught from Jack and from others with whom you have met that it is always wise to obey, for obedience brings blessings. Always, child, always obey what Jesus asks of you.

Now, of course, you may choose not to, but the blessings that you will receive when you follow him and obey will always be more than you can even comprehend or imagine will be coming.

Remember, he sees all and knows all and is in all and through all. Your sight and your understanding is necessarily very limited. Allow him to have a place in your life. Allow yourself to become continually converted and refined unto goodness. That is all.

Jesus is real

I know that Jesus is the Christ. That He is our Savior and Redeemer. And that because of Him and the glorious plan set in place from the beginning, we can return to him. Our time here is but a small blip in our eternal existence. The lessons we learn here, we will take with us when we die. And because of Jesus, all will be resurrected, to have body and spirit reunited in perfect frame.

Blessings upon you as you seek and grow in your faith!