DAY 95 of #100daysofJesus
On August 16, 2008 I was sealed to my beautiful bride in the St. George Utah Temple. This was possible only because of Jesus Christ.
Sealing is the term we use for an eternal marriage. One key difference between sealings and civil marriages is that sealings are for "time and eternity" while traditional or civil marriage is typically pronounced "until death do you part" or "as long as you both shall live."
The sealing ceremony and ordinance is the crowning blessing of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is not just a marriage between husband and wife but also a three-way covenant with God. It is only performed in sacred temple sealing rooms and by authorized temple sealers.
This authority is not new; in fact, it was held anciently by the prophet Elijah. As prophesied in the book of Malachi, Elijah returned to the earth in 1836 restoring the sealing power that will eventually link all of mankind back to Adam and Eve as one eternal human family.
Peter, James, and John also received this authority from Elijah while with Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. You'll recall that Jesus told Peter, "I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven." This is sealing authority.
Jesus revealed much about eternal marriage in 1843 to the prophet Joseph Smith in what would eventually be canonized as the 132nd section of the Doctrine & Covenants. One excerpt in particular serves to reinforce this doctrine:
"If a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, ... [the marriage] shall be of full force when they are out of the world...therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting."
I love this quote from Elder Jeffrey R Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles:
“I don't know how to speak about heaven in the traditional, lovely, paradisiacal beauty that we speak of heaven. I wouldn't know how to speak of heaven, without my wife or my children. It would not be heaven for me.
"Now, you can say that's wishful thinking, or you can say that's just because you love each other and you've gotten cozy here on earth and you like each others company. It's a lot more than that.
"There is something eternal in the statement that, 'neither is the man without the woman, nor the woman without the man in the Lord.' That isn't just good sociology, that is theology, it's eternal.”
Let me end where I began - none of this is possible without Jesus. His resurrection broke the bands of death and paved the way for us to have eternal life. His great atoning sacrifice allows us to repent and become clean to one day dwell with God. And, in the meantime, Jesus' grace helps us from day to day to do and become better while experiencing joy in this mortal journey.
Because of Jesus, I can be with Jessica and our posterity forever, and that means everything to me.
(Matthew 16:19, Malachi 4:5-6, D&C 132:19-20, D&C 110)
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