Gospel Principles Ch11 The Life Of Christ

8/8/2019 Gospel Principles Ch11 The Life Of Christ

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The Life of Christ

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The Lie o Christ Was Predicted Long beore His Birth

Every person who comes to earth depends on Jesus Christ to ulllthe promise He made in heaven to be our Savior Without Him,

the plan o salvation would have ailed Because His mission wasnecessary, all o the prophets rom Adam to Christ testied that He

would come (see Acts 10:43) All o the prophets since Christ havetestied that He did come All o us need to study the lie o theSavior and ollow Him aithully throughout our lives

Adam learned that the Savior’s name would be Jesus Christ (seeMoses 6:51–52) Enoch saw that Jesus would die upon the cross and

be resurrected (see Moses 7:55–56) Noah and Moses also testiedo Him (see Moses 1:11; 8:23–24) About 800 years beore the Savior was born on the earth, Isaiah oresaw His lie When Isaiah saw thegrie and sorrow that the Savior would suer to pay the price orour sins, he exclaimed:

“He is despised and rejected o men; a man o sorrows, andacquainted with grie

“ Surely he hath borne our gries, and carried our sorrows “He was wounded or our transgressions, he was bruised or ouriniquities

“He was oppressed, and he was aficted, yet he opened not hismouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:3–5, 7)

Nephi also saw a vision o the Savior’s uture birth and mission Hesaw a beautiul virgin, and an angel explained, “Behold, the virgin

whom thou seest is the mother o the Son o God, ater the manner

For teachers: This chapter probably has more material than you will be able to cover inclass. As you study it in preparation to teach, seek the Spirit ’s guidance in determiningwhich portions will be most helpul or those you teach.



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o the fesh” (1 Nephi 11:18) Then Nephi saw the virgin holding achild in her arms The angel declared, “Behold the Lamb o God,

yea, even the Son o the Eternal Father!” (1 Nephi 11:21)

About 124 years beore Jesus was born, King Benjamin, anotherNephite prophet, also oresaw the Savior’s lie:

“For behold, the time cometh, and is not ar distant, that withpower, the Lord Omnipotent who reigneth, who was, and is romall eternity to all eternity, shall come down rom heaven among thechildren o men, and shall dwell in a tabernacle o clay, and shall goorth amongst men, working mighty miracles, such as healing the

sick, raising the dead, causing the lame to walk, the blind to receivetheir sight, and the dea to hear, and curing all manner o diseases

“And he shall cast out devils, or the evil spirits which dwell in thehearts o the children o men

“And lo, he shall suer temptations, and pain o body, hunger,thirst, and atigue, even more than man can suer, except it be untodeath; or behold, blood cometh rom every pore, so great shall be

his anguish or the wickedness and the abominations o his people

“And he shall be called Jesus Christ, the Son o God, the Father o heaven and earth, the Creator o all things rom the beginning; andhis mother shall be called Mary” (Mosiah 3:5–8)

•WhataresomeancientpropheciesaboutJesusChrist?

He Was the Only Begotten o the Father

•WhatdidJesusChristinheritfromHisFather?WhatdidHeinheritfromHismother?

The story o the birth and lie o the Savior is ound in the New Tes-tament in the books o Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John From theiraccounts we learn that Jesus was born o a virgin named Mary She

was engaged to marry Joseph when an angel o the Lord appearedto her The angel told her that she was to be the mother o the Son

o God She asked him how this was possible (see Luke 1:34) Hetold her, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power o the Highest shall overshadow thee: thereore also that holy thing



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which shall be born o thee shall be called the Son o God” (Luke1:35) Thus, God the Father became the literal Father o Jesus Christ

Jesus is the only person on earth to be born o a mortal mother andan immortal Father That is why He is called the Only Begotten SonHe inherited divine powers rom His Father From His mother Heinherited mortality and was subject to hunger, thirst, atigue, pain,and death No one could take the Savior’s lie rom Him unless He

willed it He had power to lay it down and power to take up Hisbody again ater dying (See John 10:17–18)

He Led a Perect Lie•WhatdoestheSavior’slifemeanforus?

From His youth, Jesus obeyed all that was required o Him by ourHeavenly Father Under the guidance o Mary and Joseph, Jesusgrew much as other children grow He loved and obeyed the truthLuke tells us, “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, lled

with wisdom: and the grace o God was upon him” (Luke 2:40; see

also D&C 93:12–14)By the time He was 12 years old, Jesus had grown in His under-standing that He had been sent to do the will o His Father He

went with His parents to Jerusalem When His parents were return-ing home, they discovered that He was not with their group They

went back to Jerusalem to look or Him “Ater three days theyound him in the temple, sitting in the midst o the doctors, and

they were hearing him, and asking him questions” ( Joseph Smith Translation, Luke 2:46) “And all that heard him were astonished athis understanding and answers” (Luke 2:47)

Joseph and Mary were relieved to nd Him, but “they were amazed:and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt withus?behold,thyfatherandIhavesoughttheesorrowing.”Jesusanswered her, saying, “Wist ye not that I must be about my [Heav-enly]Father’sbusiness?”(Luke2:48–49).

In order to ulll His mission, Jesus was to do the will o His Fatherin Heaven “I do nothing o mysel,” He declared, “but as my Father



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hath taught me, I speak these things I do always those thingsthat please him” ( John 8:28–29)

When Jesus was 30 years old, He came to John the Baptist to bebaptized in the Jordan River John was reluctant to baptize Jesusbecause he knew that Jesus was greater than he Jesus asked Johnto baptize Him in order “to ull all righteousness” John did baptizethe Savior, immersing Him completely in the water When Jesus wasbaptized, His Father spoke rom heaven, saying, “This is my belovedSon, in whom I am well pleased” The Holy Ghost descended, asshown by the sign o the dove (See Matthew 3:13–17)

Soon ater Jesus was baptized, He asted or 40 days and 40 nightsto be with God Ater that, Satan came to tempt Him Jesus rmlyresisted all o Satan’s temptations and then commanded Satan to leave(See Matthew 4:1–11; see also Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 4:1,5–6, 8–9, 11) Jesus Christ remained sinless, the one perect being toever walk the earth (see Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:21–22)

•WhichaccountsfromtheSavior’slifeareespeciallymeaningful

toyou?

He Taught Us How to Love and Serve One Another

•HowdidtheSaviorteachushowtoloveandserveoneanother?

Ater His ast and His encounter with Satan, Jesus began His publicministry He came to earth not only to die or us but also to teachus how to live He taught that there are two great commandments:

rst, to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength; and second,to love others as we love ourselves (see Matthew 22:36–39) His lieis an example o how we should obey these two commandmentsI we love God, we will trust and obey Him, as Jesus did I we loveothers, we will help them meet their physical and spiritual needs

Jesus spent His lie serving others He cured them o diseases Hemade the blind see, the dea hear, and the lame walk Once when

He was healing the sick, it became late and the people were hun-gry Instead o sending them away, He blessed ve loaves o breadand two shes and miraculously was able to eed a multitude o 5,000 people (See Matthew 14:14–21) He taught that whenever



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we nd people hungry, cold, naked, or lonely, we should helpthem all we can When we help others, we are serving the Lord(See Matthew 25:35–46)

Jesus loved others with all His heart Oten His heart was so ull o compassion that He wept He loved little children, the elderly, andthe humble, simple people who had aith in Him He loved those

who had sinned, and with great compassion He taught them torepent and be baptized He taught, “I am the way, the truth, andthe lie” ( John 14:6)

Jesus even loved those who sinned against him and were unrepen-

tant At the end o His lie, as He hung on the cross, He prayed tothe Father or the soldiers who had crucied Him, pleading, “Father,orgive them; or they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34) Hetaught, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as Ihave loved you” ( John 15:12)

•InwhatwayscanweshowtheLordthatweloveHim?

He Organized the Only True Church•WhydidtheSaviororganizeHisChurchandordainApostles?

Jesus wanted His gospel taught to people all over the earth, so Hechose twelve Apostles to testiy o Him They were the original lead-ers o His Church They received the authority to act in His name anddo the works they had seen Him do Those who received authorityrom them were also able to teach, baptize, and perorm other ordi-

nances in His name Ater His death, they continued to do His workuntil the people became so wicked that they killed the Apostles

He Redeemed Us rom Our Sins and Saved Us rom Death

•Asyoustudythissection,taketimetopondertheeventsofthe Atonement

Near the end o His mortal ministry, Jesus prepared to make

the ultimate sacrice or all the sins o mankind He had been

For teachers: Pondering invites the Spirit. Consider asking class members or amily membersto quietly read the fnal two sections o the chapter, thinking about their eelings or the Savior.Then invite those who eel comortable doing so to share their thoughts with the class.



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condemned to die because He had testied to the people that He was the Son o God

The night beore His Crucixion, Jesus went to a garden calledGethsemane Soon He was weighed down by deep sorrow and

wept as He prayed Latter-day Apostle Orson F Whitney was per-mitted to see the Savior’s suering in a vision Seeing the Savior

weep, he said: “I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out o pure sympathy My whole heart went out to Him; I loved Him withall my soul, and longed to be with Him as I longed or nothing else”(“The Divinity o Jesus Christ,” Improvement Era, Jan 1926, 224–25;

see also Ensign, Dec 2003, 10) Jesus “went a little urther, and ellon his ace, and prayed, saying, O my Father, i it be possible, letthis cup pass rom me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt”(Matthew 26:39)

In a modern revelation the Savior described how great His suering was, saying it caused Him “to tremble because o pain, and to bleedat every pore, and to suer both body and spirit” (D&C 19:18) He

suered “according to the fesh,” taking upon himsel our pains,sicknesses, inrmities, and sins (see Alma 7:10–13) No mortalperson can comprehend just how great this burden was No otherperson could have endured such agony o body and spirit “Hedescended below all things that he might be in all and throughall things, the light o truth” (D&C 88:6)

But His suering was not yet complete The ollowing day, Jesus was beaten, humiliated, and spit upon He was required to carry Hisown cross; then He was lited up and nailed to it He was torturedin one o the cruelest ways men have ever devised Ater sueringon the cross, He cried out in agony, “My God, my God, why hastthouforsakenme?”(Mark15:34).InJesus’sbitteresthour,theFatherhad withdrawn rom Him so Jesus could nish suering the penaltyor the sins o all mankind that Jesus might have complete victoryover the orces o sin and death (see James E Talmage, Jesus the

Christ, 3 rd ed [1916], 660–61) When the Savior knew that His sacrice had been accepted by theFather, He exclaimed in a loud voice, “It is nished” ( John 19:30)



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“Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit” (Luke 23:46) Hebowed His head and voluntarily gave up His spirit The Savior wasdead A violent earthquake shook the earth

Some riends took the Savior’s body to a tomb, where it lay until thethird day During this time His spirit went and organized the mis-sionary work to other spirits who needed to receive His gospel (see1 Peter 3:18–20; D&C 138) On the third day, a Sunday, He returnedto His body and took it up again He was the rst to overcomedeath The prophecy had been ullled “that he must rise againrom the dead” (John 20:9)

Shortly ater His Resurrection, the Savior appeared to the Nephitesand established His Church in the Americas He taught the peopleand blessed them This moving account is ound in 3 Nephi 11through 28

His Sacrifce Showed His Love or His Father and or Us

Jesus taught: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay

down his lie or his riends Ye are my riends, i ye do whatsoeverI command you” (John 15:13–14) He willingly and humbly wentthrough the sorrow in Gethsemane and the suering on the crossso we could receive all the blessings o the plan o salvation Toreceive these blessings, we must come unto Him, repent o our sins,and love Him with all our hearts He said:

“And this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into

the world to do the will o my Father, because my Father sent me“And my Father sent me that I might be lited up upon the cross;and ater that I had been lited up upon the cross, that I might drawall men unto me that they may be judged according to their

works

“For the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do

“Therefore,whatmannerofmenoughtyetobe?VerilyIsayunto

you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:13–15, 21, 27; italics added)•WhatareyourfeelingsasyoupondertheSavior’ssacriceforyou?



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Additional Scriptures and Other Sources

•2Nephi25:12(theOnlyBegottenoftheFatherintheesh)

•Moses6:57( JesusChristnamedastheOnlyBegotten)•Matthew,Mark,Luke,John(lifeandteachingsofJesusChrist)

•Matthew10:1–8;Luke9:1–2(Apostlesordainedwithpowerandauthority)

•Matthew26–28;Mark14–16;Luke22–24;John18–20( Jesusinthe garden; betrayed, crucied, and resurrected)

•“TheLivingChrist:TheTestimonyoftheApostles,” Ensign, Apr2000, 2–3

Gospel Principles Ch11 The Life Of Christ

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