Today is the day we in Christendom celebrate the birth of Christ, the Lord. As the prophet Nephi wrote,
“For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do….
“And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
Wrote Benjamin, a prophet-king who died more than a century before the birth of Christ,
“And moreover, I say unto you, that there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.”
For all the riches offered to us in this life, the greatest, most important is that offered by our Savior, Jesus Christ, in His gift of grace. In this vein wrote the prophet Lehi,
“Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.
“Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered.
“Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.”
I haven’t been nearly as good at sharing the gospel in the eight years since my mission as I was in that two-year period, when all of my time and focus were dedicated to inviting others to come unto Christ. But for as timid as I can be in sharing my beliefs without that name tag on my chest, I do have a testimony of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, and of the Book of Mormon, which, alongside the Bible, testifies of Christ’s divinity.
In that spirit, I wish a Merry Christmas to all. May the Lord abundantly bless you and your family in the coming year.
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