HUBBLElife Episode 4. Who is Jesus Christ?

Who is Jesus Christ?  What does it mean that He is my advocate with the Father?  Do I need a Savior? 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:12

Welcome back, fellow travelers, to Hubble Life episode 4. Today we're gonna embark on a profound journey as we explore who Jesus Christ is and why his presence is essential in our lives. Together we're gonna reflect on his role as our God. Our savior, our advocate with the father, and even our friend. Let's dive into this conversation and see what we can discover. Last week we talked a little bit about my experience wanting to walk away from everything, ready to leave family, covenants, commitments that I had, and all of those things, and the experience that I had with a Heavenly Father who I knew loved me just the way that I was, and that that was okay for him, and that he was okay with whatever I decided to do. And knowing in that moment that I was loved unconditionally, but that if I chose to stay with him, that he would not leave me the way that he found me, but that together as we walked, that I would become somebody new, and that there were blessings and unimaginable things that were ahead of me in my life. Yes, he does love us where we are, but as we join with him and come to know him, he makes us better than we were, and to come to him, we need to be made whole. And there's only one way that we can do that, and that's through having a savior, and so we're gonna talk a little bit about that today, and that's the point in my life when it hit me differently that I knew I needed the savior to become who I needed to be in order to be able to live with my heavenly father. There's a scripture in Alma that means a lot to me. During that time, I when I went to the temple grounds to say my goodbyes to God and to the life I was living, to everything, um I sat in the rotunda and there is a large statue of Jesus Christ, the Christus. And as I sat there with anger and frustration and feelings of worthlessness and sadness, all of these things that were surrounding me, I felt broken. And there was a cute sister missionary who I'm sure was terrified to come up and talk to me because I am positive that I did not look approachable to her. And yet she put herself out there. Her name is Sister Butler. And Sister Butler came up to me and she just said, Would you mind if I just share with you a scripture? And I would just kind of rolled my eyes and I thought, whatever, that's fine. Sure, share scripture with me. So she did. She said, I just want to share you with you this scripture in Alma, chapter 7, verse 11 and 12. And so she read this to me. And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind, that he may know according to the flesh, how to succor his people according to their infirmities. She proceeded to talk about this scripture and the meaning of it, and that our Savior had come to earth in the flesh and suffered pains and afflictions and temptations in the flesh so that he could understand completely what I was going through, and that he was there for me. And in the same way that Sister Butler approached me and came to me to help me, our Savior is the same way. He sees us the same way, not from a distance, but up close. He doesn't just observe the pain that we're going through or the trials that we're facing or how inadequate we may feel. So who is this savior? And how does he know us completely? You know, there are so many quotes and so many books and things that we could study on the life of Jesus Christ and who he is. And today I'm not going to get into all of those things. Um, but there are a couple of things that I'm going to touch on as we explore this in our own life. This comes from the living Christ, and it says this Jesus is the living Christ, the immortal Son of God. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. Right now, it seems like in this world, each of us probably could use a little bit of light and a little bit of hope. And he is that person for us. He came here for that very reason. He is the light. He is the life and he is the hope. He is also our redeemer and he is our mediator with the father. President Thomas S. Monson said, He is our redeemer and the mediator with our father. I don't know about you, but understanding what a mediator is and what he was sent here to do and who he is for us when we leave is incredible. Because honestly, here's the thing: the reason we need a savior is because nobody here is perfect. All of us are mortal, all of us have flaws, and we're all imperfect, and we're all unable to save ourselves. There's just no way for us to do that. It's impossible. And our Heavenly Father wants us to come back to him. And knowing that there is no way that we could do that because none of us are perfect, we needed somebody who could help us. We understand that no unclean thing can return and live with God. Not because he rejects us and not because he doesn't want us to, but because we have to be more than we are here. We needed someone to bridge the gap, someone to stand between us and the Father to help us make it through that. And so that's what Christ did. As an advocate, he didn't, he doesn't argue our innocence because none of us are innocent. He actually acknowledges our weaknesses and he pleads mercy based on his own perfect life. Can you even imagine? If we sit and think about what that means, that he pleads mercy because of what he went through, we don't have to be perfect and we don't have to be innocent. None of us are, and that's okay. In Doctrine Covenants, section 29, verse 5, it says this lift up your hearts and be glad, for I am in your midst, and I am your advocate with the Father. He's not there to judge us, he is the one that's standing beside us. What that reunion will look like on the other side, and meeting my heavenly father after this experience here, walking through that next door into the next life, back to our heavenly home where we came from before, and what that's going to be like. And having our our heavenly father and a heavenly mother standing there wanting to let us in, and us saying, Hey, I did the very best that I could. I tried so hard. I tried doing all the right things, and yeah, I made mistakes, and him saying, I love you so much, and I'm sorry, but you can't come in. That would be devastating, and will be devastating. And then I imagine Jesus Christ, our savior, our brother, who comes up and stands next to me with his arms around my shoulders and says, Hey, she's with me. Imagining what that will be like is incredible because he will do that for each and every one of us because he paid the price so that we can get back and live with our Heavenly Father. He will stand there and he will say, She's with me, or He's with me, and we will be led into the presence of our God because of our Savior Jesus Christ. We can be made perfect and whole. We cannot do it on our own. President Gordon B. Hinckley stated this: Jesus is my friend. None other has given so much. John 3 17 says this. He did not to come to condemn us, he came to bless and to save us. He's not here to make your life harder. He's here to help you through it and to help us get back to heaven with our families and with our heavenly parents this week. Um maybe take a few minutes, quiet moments each day to reflect on his love for you. And if you have not felt that love, then this is a good week to start. Try thinking about him. Maybe ask yourself, where do I need him most right now? How can he help to make me whole? Where can I turn for peace? I know that the Savior, Jesus Christ, is the only way to find peace, joy, and eternal life with those that we love. Each of us needs him, regardless of where we are, and he's there, ready to take our hand and to help us through. This life, as we're exploring all of the different things that we're learning here and doing, we need somebody as our guide. We need somebody next to us, alongside of us, to help us make it. And that person is Jesus Christ. He loves you. He atoned for each of our sins, our imperfections, our worries, our doubts, our struggles. He knows them all. And he loves us. He loves you. I hope you'll take a moment this week and work on that. Think about that. Ask him for some help. There's power in his atonement. Until next time, have understanding, be believing, and live extraordinary. Have a help of life. We'll see you next week.