Christmas Talk

Good morning to all of you. I hope you had a good Christmas day yesterday!

Today, I want to talk about Jesus Christ.

Obviously, we celebrate Christmas day like yesterday was that day, but why do we celebrate that special day every year? Good to remember the birth of Jesus Christ. Obviously, everyone already knows, but why was Jesus so important?

Well, really, Jesus Christ was very important for different reasons. He established his true church on earth and performed many miracles for people, but the reason he is very important is because he is our savior and redeemer. But the most important thing to remember is that he is our mediator. What does that mean? Because this is an important word.

This is a story about that. There is a man who owes another man; this is the story.

"I can't pay him because I don't have the money to do it," he confessed.

“Then,” said the creditor, “we will take your possessions, and you will go to jail. You agreed with that; it was his choice. You signed the contract, and now it must be put into effect.”

"Could you not extend the term or forgive me the debt?" begged the debtor. “Fix some way for me to keep my property and not go to jail? Surely you believe in mercy. Won't you have it with me?"

The creditor replied, “Mercy always favors only one, and in this case, it will only serve you. If I'm merciful, I'll run out of my money. What I demand is justice. Do you believe in justice?"

"I believed in justice when I signed the contract," said the debtor. “He was on my side then because I thought he would protect me. So I didn't need mercy, nor did I think I would ever need it."

"It is justice that requires you to pay the contract or suffer the penalty," replied the creditor. "That's the law. You agreed, and this is how it should be. Mercy cannot rob justice."

There they were: one demanded justice, and the other begged for mercy. Neither would be satisfied except at the expense of the other.

"If you do not forgive the debt, there will be no mercy," replied the debtor.

"But if I do, there will be no justice," was the reply.

It seemed that both laws could not be enforced at the same time. They are two eternal ideals that seem to contradict each other. Is there no way that justice can be served at the same time as mercy?

There is a way! The law of justice can be satisfied at the same time that that of mercy is fulfilled, but someone is needed to intercede. And that's what happened.

The debtor had a friend who came to help him. He knew the debtor very well; he knew it had been unwise to put himself in such a predicament. However, she wanted to help him because she loved him. He interceded with the creditor and made him an offer: "I will pay the debt if you release the debtor from his commitment so that he can keep his possessions and does not have to go to jail."

While the creditor pondered the offer, the mediator added, “You demanded justice, and even though he cannot pay you, I will. You will have received justice, and you cannot demand more because it would not be fair.”

The creditor accepted the proposal.

The mediator then said to the debtor, "If I pay your debt, will you accept me as your creditor?"

"Of course, I do," exclaimed the debtor. "You save me from prison and are merciful to me."

"Then," said the benefactor (that is, the one who helps), "you will pay me the debt, and I will establish the conditions. It will not be easy, but it will be possible. I will provide the way, and it will not be necessary for you to go to jail."

Thus, it was that the creditor received his money. He was treated fairly without breaking the contract. The debtor, in turn, had been given mercy. Both laws had been followed. Because there was a mediator, justice had been served, and mercy was fully satisfied.

Each of us lives something like on credit or with a spiritual debt. Someday the account will be closed, and we will be required to pay the balance. Whichever way we look at it now, when that day comes and the closing of the account becomes imminent (is near), we will look around anxiously for someone to help us.

By eternal law, mercy cannot be extended unless there is someone who is willing and able to take over our debt, pay the price, and manage the terms of our redemption.

Unless there is a mediator, unless we have a friend, the full burden of justice must fall on us. Payment in full for each transgression, no matter how small or large, will be required of us to the highest degree.

But know this: The truth, the glorious truth, proclaims that there is a Mediator. "For there is only one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ" (1 Timothy 2:5). Through Him, mercy is extended to each of us without offending the eternal law of justice.

Mercy will not be extended automatically; it will be done by a covenant with Him and in accordance with His terms, His generous terms, which include baptism by immersion as an essential requirement for the remission of sins.

The law of justice can protect all of humanity, and at the same time, each of us individually can be extended the redemptive and healing blessings of mercy.

That is exactly why we need Jesus Christ to be our mediator for our spiritual debt. We are sinners.

He has already paid for each of our debts by the grace of His atonement. The Atonement of Jesus Christ was His mission on earth. There are three things that He did:

One was His message - your message meaning the gospel of Jesus Christ. It had been preached since the beginning of time, and it would be preached again. It was certainly a great blessing to have the Savior personally preach His gospel message, but that was not the essential reason why He came to earth. He said in Doctrine and Covenants 1:38, “What I, the Lord, have said, I have said, and I do not apologize, and although the heavens and the earth pass away, my word will not pass away, but all will be fulfilled, whether by my own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same." He didn't need to come here for His message. The prophets can do that.

His ministry - His ministry includes working miracles, but Enoch, Moses, Noah, and Abraham have performed miracles and wonderful works like that as well. Paul, Peter, and others could perform miracles after their promotion as well. He didn't come for His ministry.

So, how can we return to our God, our Heavenly Father? Why do we already have this atonement?

Good question. Giving us a guide is called the gospel, which is the way we need to follow each day.

What happened when we used the atonement and the gospel in our lives? How will our life change to be a better person?

Well, it changes life because it changes hearts. Really, yes.

I want to share a story of mine with you about my conversion.

Before the mission, I was not doing the best things. But I still knew that there was a God, and I had the gift of the Holy Spirit with me from the baptismal covenant I made when I was younger. I already knew that the things I was doing weren't the best through the Holy Spirit. One day, I felt horrible and a lot of shame and guilt. But why? I didn't know if the church was true or if there was a God. I listened to everything in my life, but I thought that it is only one thing people say for hope and happiness. But also, all of my life, my dad always said that his testimony needs to come by himself. He can't just believe other people's words. So, I knelt near my bed and prayed, "God, are you here? Are you real? Show me a sign." And I heard a voice, not from me, saying 2 Nephi 2. Immediately, I read and found verse 14 that says, "And now, my children, I speak these things unto you for your profit and learning; for there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon." And I knew there was a God immediately after that. But my heart was hard. There I am, knowing that there is a God, and He is real. Now, with a knowledge of that, He knows me, and He still wants to talk to me. But, like I said, my heart was hard.

So, I can't humble myself to repent. Immediately, my mind was like, "God doesn't love me. I'm not worthy enough." He knew there was a God, but he thought it was a lost cause.

That was Satan. He was saying the wrong things in my mind. I already had a job, and he did not want to lose it. So, he thought that he didn't do things that badly. He wasn't wrong, he wasn't sorry. That was Satan.

But God knew how to talk to me. He knows each of us better than we do ourselves. Anyways, He knew that I love video, I love watching and making videos. That's my favorite thing. I was watching a video of something completely different than a church or God video, I don't remember what it was, but I know it was not a video of the church or of God. I needed to use the bathroom, so I went to use it and came back, and a video of a man named Marcus was playing. He was a man who has a very cool and powerful story. He was arrested for a rascal who promised to pay for his heroin addiction and ended up spending 5 years in Arizona State Prison. He had not even been out for a few days and ended up drinking and smoking marijuana again. He ended up in trouble again, and it became important for him to realize what he was doing and where he was going with his life. He felt that God was drawing near, so he got down on his knees and prayed for the first time with real intention in his life and said, "God, I believe You are there, and I think You are trying to help me. But what I do not understand is why I am a convict and an addict. Why would You want to help me?" I got an answer to that prayer, a feeling in my heart, and words that I actually heard Marcus say, "It's because I love you." It was amazing. To date a girl from BYU and 5 months later, the day he asked her to marry him was the day she decided to leave him. She underwent a root canal later that week and ended up getting a prescription for pain relievers and ended up reversing the prescription and going into the worst addiction she has ever had in her life. He got into a robbery and walked into the store and told the guy, "I'm not going to hurt you, I just need your money," as he was hiding in the bushes while the police cars passed by. He realized how fake and fraudulent it was. He saw the reaction of the store clerk and thought, "How could he do that to another human being?" He started to feel like a failure because God saved his life once before, but he threw it all away. He removed the gun, safe, and the world went silent, and he heard these words, "I am still here." And he said, "How can I? After all I've done, after all I've been, how can You still be here?" But he knew whose voice it was, and he knew why he was listening to it. God gave him a life back because he came to find a loving God who had been with him every step of the way. The times he didn't think He was there were the times he didn't look.

At that time, I knew and thought, "Wow, God loves me. I'm exactly like Marcus." While I was sitting there, connecting with the spiritual God, I put another random video on my phone of Jeffrey R. Holland of the Twelve, and in that speech, he said, "Today, I don't know who in this vast audience may need to hear the message of forgiveness inherent in this parable, but no matter how late they think they have come, no matter how many opportunities they have missed, no matter how many mistakes they think they have made, whatever they may be, the talents you think you don't have, or however far you think you have traveled from home, family, and God, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love. They cannot sink so deep that they are not caught by the brilliance of the infinite light of Christ's Atonement. Even if they are not yet of our faith, or if they were once with us but have not remained, there is nothing they have done that cannot be undone. There is no problem they cannot overcome. There is no dream that cannot be realized with the unfolding of time and eternity. Even when they feel they are the last lost worker of the eleventh hour, the Lord of the vineyard calls them. '[Come closer]...confidently to the throne of grace' and fall at the feet of the Holy One of Israel. Come and eat 'without money and without price' at the Lord's table." He was shocked because it was exactly what he needed to hear, and God knew. And after that, he had an open heart. The gospel and repentance changed my heart to be a disciple of Christ. And because He already atoned for each of our sins, I was able to meet with God and be clean. Please don't be like me. I don't want you to be humiliated like me.

There is a story from the Book of Mormon I want to share about Ammon and his history. He was not a good man; he was speaking badly about the gospel and the church. Eventually, he was with Saul the young man and the brothers of Ammon. They saw an angel who said, "Why are you doing bad things?" Basically, that was a sign from heaven to repent. So he repented and became a missionary. But you know what? It was not easy. He had the opportunity to be a king or be in a kingdom four times: once with his father Mosiah, another with Lamoni to marry his daughter, another to be in the kingdom of Lamoni, and another with the Pope of Lamoni. That was probably a big temptation for him, and Satan knew that because four times that was his temptation. Satan is really smart, if he is very smart. But each time, Ammon chose to be a full-time missionary because he had a change in his heart, and he knew that it was better after he became a new person with Christ and His atonement. That is the same with me. When we use the atonement and the gospel as our guide, we can have a change of heart and follow Jesus Christ. To be honest, my happiest times have been as a missionary, my baptism, and going through the temple. Remember what brings you the most happiness. It will always bring you back to our Father in Heaven. Chase it. It is important to someone who thinks it is too late. We promise it is not. You can't get help unless you ask for it. That's why He said, "Come to me." You can't really help someone unless they ask. He asks us to go to Him because it is the only way to help. We need to use the atonement. It's worth the effort. 

Testimony: 

Atonement

Book of Mormon

God's love

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.