DAY 81 of #100daysofJesus
After Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden, they were given a commandment to make sacrifices to, pray to, and worship God.
They obediently did so, and one day an angel appeared asking them why they were making these sacrifices. Adam replied, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me."
Adam didn't even know why He was doing it, yet he showed his faith by obeying while he awaited clearer understanding. And it soon came.
The angel explained, "This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth. Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son, and thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore."
In other words, Jesus would one day come to the earth and sacrifice Himself for the sins of the world. In anticipation of that Great Sacrifice, Adam and his posterity would make frequent, smaller sacrifices to help point them to Jesus and look forward to that day.
After this encounter with the angel, both Adam and Eve were filled with the Spirit of prophesy.
Adam exclaims: "Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God."
And Eve follows with: "Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient."
The scripture then records that they blessed the name of God and taught their children these things.
The tragedy and challenge of their fallen state was swallowed up in the joy of a Redeemer who would one day come into the world to save them, even Jesus Christ.
Fortunately, we no longer make animal sacrifice to remember Jesus. He asks that we remember Him each week through the partaking of the sacramental emblems, reminders of His broken body and the blood He shed for us.
Our sacrifice is that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
Like Adam and Eve, each of us experiences the fallen state of mortality, and none of us can save ourselves. We're not unlike our first parents!
The Joyous message of the gospel of Jesus Christ is that we have a Savior who came to free us all from sin and death. There is hope. There is a way to peace and eternal salvation. Jesus is the way. Trust Jesus!
(Moses 5:5-11, 3 Nephi 9:20)
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