The Universal Nature of the Resurrection

This Sunday we celebrate Easter, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. There are many important gifts that Jesus Christ has given us, but nothing is as important as the resurrection.

In speaking of the atonement of Jesus Christ, of which the resurrection is one of the most important aspects, Elder Bruce R. McConkie has written: "Nothing in the entire plan of salvation compares in any way in importance with that most transcendent of all events, the atoning sacrifice of our Lord. It is the most important single thing that has ever occurred in the entire history of created things; it is the rock foundation upon which the gospel and all other things rest."

I think it is hard for us to really comprehend the special act that Christ committed in unlocking the door of death and providing all mankind, no matter how good or how evil, the gift of reuniting our spirits with our physical bodies. This gift is not just for mankind, but to all of God's creations.

The resurrection even applies to the earth itself (see D&C 88:17-18, 25-26) and to everything that has ever lived on this earth. Some leaders of the Church have suggested that the resurrection of Jesus Christ also applies to everything that has ever lived on any of the earths created by Jesus Christ.

Joseph Fielding Smith stated: "The Savior is not going to save only mankind. Everything God has created must be restored, . . . everything the Lord has created. . . . Everything that has life [was] created in the image of its spirit, and is a living soul, and therefore entitled to the resurrection."

The Lord states in section 29 of the Doctrine and Covenants that

"all things shall become new, even the heaven and the earth, and all the fulness thereof, both men and beasts, the fowls of the air, and the fishes of the sea . . . for it is the workmanship of mine hand" (D&C 29:24-25).

Elder Bruce R. McConkie has taught: "Just as the creative [power] and [the] redemptive powers of Christ extend to the earth and all things thereon, as also to the infinite expanse of worlds in immensity, so the power of the resurrection is universal in scope. Man, the earth, and all life thereon will come forth in the resurrection. And the resurrection applies to and is going on in other worlds and other galaxies."

The resurrection is universal to everything that is under God's power. What an absolute mind-boggling principle. In addition to trying to understand and comprehend the universal nature of the resurrection, is the process of the resurrection itself. Somehow, through the power of the priesthood, by someone who is authorized by the keys of resurrection, will command the elements to reorganize and reunited with one's spirit and become an eternal being.

Regarding this, President Heber J. Grant make this interesting statement, "In the resurrection, they (husband and wife) stand side by side and hold dominion together. Every man who overcomes all things and is thereby entitled to inherit all things, receives power to bring up his wife to join him in the possession and enjoyment thereof" (Mormon Doctrine Plain and Simple, 1888, p. 51).

As we husbands remain faithful, honor our priesthood, we, as patriarchs to our family, will play a significant role in the salvation process of our wife and children. We will have the sacred duty to bring our eternal companion into the Celestial World. Think of the veil process we went through with our companion when we were married in the temple. Remember, the temple ordinances are symbolic in nature, teaching and training us for eternity.

As you celebrate Easter, give thanks to your Savior for this wonderful gift he has given you, that of the reunification of your spirit and your body, a process that puts you one step closer to Godhood.

Love, Dad