Why
and How of the Atonement.
March
2026
By:
Candilyn J. Young
This talk is about a love story. This talk is about a high stakes hostage situation. And about the construction of the greatest bridge. This talk is also about debts being paid. If you haven’t figured it out yet I will be diving into Christ’s Atonement.
On my mission in Roseville, California my trainer Liz Kent made the claim, “The Atonement is so vast and universal that it can be compared to almost anything for a metaphor.”
An example of one that I remember is when we saw some kitchen cabinet doors being redone- sanded and repainted.
The Atonement is like those cabinet doors being redone because they are being made new again so they can go back to where they belong.
See the connection?
I don’t how true Kent’s claim is—it was a bit of a stretch at times with the items we used for our metaphors. But what I do know is that Jesus Christ’s Atonement is the center of everything in the gospel.
The prophet Joseph Smith has said:
"The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it."
Why is it the center of everything? How is it the center of everything?
Let’s start with why…
It goes back to Adam and Eve.
After Earth was created, Adam and Eve came down to Earth perfect and innocent. However, they knew that if there were to be any more children of God to come down to Earth they needed to step away from home, leave the nest to learn and grow.
When Adam and Eve made their sacrifice God’s plan that was already set in place. Jesus paid the debt owed to Justice that we couldn’t pay. If he did not all mankind would be Stuck.
Without the atonement “…all mankind must unavoidably perish all are hardened; yea, all are fallen and are lost, and must perish…” (Alma 34:9) and “…And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.” (2 Nephi 9:7)
The Fall made “…a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass…” (Luke 16:26)
This left us hostage on one side with the Devil and Death. It was the Savior who paid that ransom and won us back
After the Fall was completed what was needed was another sacrifice to build that needed bridge back Home.
When Adam and Eve made that sacrifice to Fall by choice the Atonement was not plan B it was THE plan.
The Fall is one of the three
pillars Bruce R. McConkie stated to be the three greatest events in history:
THE CREATION
THE FALL
THE ATONEMENT
The
Atonement supports that final length of the journey back to heaven. When we
have faith it needs to be in this Atonement that the
way home is there. Because it is.
Okay, now we know the why it’s the center but how?
We
may never know the science of how it all works. For God works by science not some
mystic magical force.
The key power behind it is LOVE.
The ancient Greeks categorized love in four levels.
The lowest and least powerful love is Eros or romantic love. This was compared to a quick burning and intense fire.
Next is Storge or family love. This is stronger but felt and expressed instinctively and not by choice.
After that is Philia or friendship love. Aristotle held this love in high regard as this love is more of a choice we make for our equals.
The greatest is Agape or as we know it… Charity the pure love of Christ. It is felt and expressed without any reciprocation or reward. It is about sacrifice.
With love’s power we are provided with strength and connection,
In the 1980’s Adam Luks coined the phrase “Helpers High”. There has been several studies that prove when we do service to others, express charity, our mood and health improve, and our brains have a less response to pain.
That same love connects us as well.
So, it was Christ’s love for us
that buoyed him up through his difficult task of feeling all our pain in Gethsemane,
it carried him through being mocked and whipped, it held him up as he bore the weight
of the cross. His love for us was there to get him through the experience of
having the nails driven through his hands and wrists."Gethsamane" by Adam Abram
I saw this best visually displayed in a movie called “Interstellar”.
In this movie the main character was a pilot and father named Cooper. Cooper had to leave Earth with scientists to find a new planet for Humankind.
At the end of the movie Cooper found that his love for his daughter and her love for him connected each other in a unique way so they could communicate. Together that bond saved humankind in the movie.
To me, that showed how Christ’s love can span all space and time to save us all.
Love has been the key to it all and it can carry us to being great at something. If you love the goal you are working on it can get you there.
I tell my kids, if they really want to be great at their chosen activity—soccer, piano, singing, anything— that it has to be something that they're willing to give their heart and their mind and their strength and their time to, they’ve got to give it their all. They need to eat, breathe and sleep it. If They really want to be great at it that’s what it takes.
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| "Let Zion in her Beauty Rise" |
The Savior, while fulfilling the
atonement, got knocked down again and again. He got spat on, he got hit, he got
struck, laughed at and left alone. But he got back up again. Because of you.
You are why the Savior fulfilled the Atonement. He got back up again because he
wanted you back home. He got back up on his feet after Gethsemane. He got on
that cross and died. And got back up from death. Because his goal was worth
pursuing and completing.
His love for you, for all of us, got him back up so we can get back up again on that covenant path tht Jesus paved of baptism, gift of the Holy Ghost temple attendance and enduring to the end.
The way is there for all to walk with Him. You just need to give it your all
because you are worth it!
I say these things in the name of
Jesus Christ Amen.
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