Day 1 | Here Am I; Send Me
December 19, 2015 - WEEK ONE
Michelangelo Buonarroti, Detail from Sistine Chapel, [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons.
DAILY READING
John 1:1-14
Abraham 3:19-28
D&C 88:4-13, 93:1-5, 20-24
CONSIDER AS YOU READ
- How do you feel about yourself when you think that you knew and were known by Christ in the pre-existence?
- Does it give you confidence to know that you walked and sided with Christ when eternally significant choices were being made?
SUPPLEMENTAL READING
If we think of Jesus as only a great historical leader and teacher who lived nearly two thousand years ago, we will have missed the mark of truth by a wide margin. If his name brings to mind only images of ancient Palestine, the stormy sea of Galilee, the crowded stone streets of Jerusalem, or the cottages of Capernaum, then we will have hardly begun to understand who he was at all….Before this world was, we knew him. In the premortal life,… he stood among us as the Firstborn and Anointed of the Father, a Being of surpassing intelligence and light, whom we joyfully received as our Lord and leader. We knew him. We followed him. We adored him.… Our challenge now is to come to know him again and, through faith in him, to overcome the trials and temptations of this world and return to our Father’s presence.…
Without the Atonement of Christ, we would be consigned to everlasting exile from the presence of God. With no means for repentance available,… the accumulated effects of transgression would mount until we became captives of the adversary (2 Nephi 9:7–9). From the beginning, there was one and only one way to avoid this awful end—a perfect being would have to offer up his life as a sinless sacrifice for our sins. Moved by pure love, Christ in the Grand Council volunteered to ransom us from sin and death, to take upon himself the full penalty and payment of all the sins of mankind from Adam to the end of the world. That frightful burden—infinite in magnitude—would rest upon him alone (Bruce D. Porter, King of Kings, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000, 5–7).
ADDITIONAL MEDIA
FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES
QUESTIONS FOR YOUNGER DISCIPLES
- What did Heavenly Father promise if we follow His plan?
- Why did Jesus have to die and be resurrected?
- Who made the sun and moon and stars?