The importance of the Infinite Atonement was emphasized by President Nelson during the October 2024 General Conference. He said that we should learn everything we can about the Atonement. I was delighted to hear this challenge from our Prophet.
While I was serving as Stake President in Boulder, Colorado, I prepared a special talk about the Infinite Atonement and had the High Counselors share this message in all the wards in our Stake. For me, President Nelson’s challenge and my takeaway is, to help as many as I can with what I have learned regarding this most important subject. The Infinite Atonement is the centerpiece of all of world history; it is the most important event ever.
While we were serving our mission in West Africa, Cote d’Ivoire, I wrote a special article for the people there and then put it on our original website: THE FALL OF ADAM and THE ATONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST are CENTRAL TO CREATION’S DESIGN.
Importance of the Infinite Atonement
The Atonement brought perfection to Heavenly Father’s “Plan of Happiness, and all of Heavenly Father’s children are the recipients. Everyone will be or has been resurrected. Everyone can be forgiven their sins if they repent and receive Christ into their lives. The Infinite Atonement promises the greatest of all the gifts of God, Eternal Life. The more we gain an understanding of the Infinite Atonement, the closer we come to our Savior and enjoy and feel His love in our lives.
The earth and all the hosts of heaven responded to this most important three-day event. The Earth knew its Creator, and during those three hours He was excruciatingly suffering on the cross, “the God of nature suffers.” And rocks were broken up all across the earth and many cities of the wicked were destroyed.
We gain great insights from apocryphal literature: the prophet Zenos reports, “And the rocks of the earth must rend; and because of the groanings of the earth, many of the kings of the isles of the sea shall be wrought upon by the Spirit of God, to exclaim: “The God of nature suffers.” (1 Nephi 19:12) Then, with His glorious resurrection, the Earth rocked back and forth in rapture, as her Creator commenced by being the first glorious fruits of the resurrection of us all.
The Witness of Jewish Soldiers
When it happened that early Sunday morning, it was witnessed by the hundred Jewish soldiers standing guard as a brilliant light came down from the heavens, and over the night they heard three times: “Adon Mashich Cumi,” which means, “Lord Christ arise.”
The last time was just before sunrise, “the heavens blazed with light… And then the white-robed form tramped on the Roman seal, and then he tore it into shreds; he took the mighty stone in hand as though it were a pebble from the brook, and cast it to the side. And Jesus opened his eyes and said, ‘All hail the rising sun! the coming of the day of righteousness!’
“They saw the body of the Nazarene transmute. They saw it change from a mortal to an immortal form and then disappear. The soldiers heard a voice from somewhere; yea, from everywhere. It said,” Peace, peace on earth; good will to men.”(Chapter 172:26-41 of the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ by Levi)
The Pontius Pilot Account
In Pontius Pilot’s account, he sent his trusted secretary, MALCUS to witness and report. “He said that at about the beginning of the fourth watch, “They Saw A Soft And a Beautiful-Lyght Up Above the Sepulcher.” The Entire Place was lit up and there seemed to be A Crowd Of The Dead Walking around in their grave clothes. Each Of Them Seemed To Be Shouting And Filled With Ecstasy while All Around And Above, was Heard, The Most Beautiful Music he had ever experienced: And The Whole Sky Seemed To Be Full Of Voices Praising: YHV: Yahll’Vol’Hay/God. At This Time there seemed to be a reeling and rocking back-and-forth of The Entire Earth…” (The Crucifixion Report of Pontus Pilot to : Tiberius Caesar, pgs 147-151)
It seems the whole Earth was rejoicing with her Creator’s resurrection.
Gospel of Joseph of Arimathea
We read in the gospel of Joseph of Arimathea transliterated from Old English by Dezert-Owl; fortunately, I have become friends with him. This gospel describes Jesus’ mother Mary’s anguish: “SHE STOOD OUT-SIDE [of the tomb], CRYING BITTERLY (25:74).” Thinking Him dead, she didn’t recognize Him, as He appeared before her, “DRESSED in A BRYGHT-WHITE ROBE Ov LYGHT (25:110).” He asked her, “Why Are YOU BURSTING-OUT In TEARZ Ov A-Fection [over an] “Empty-Tomb (25:112).” “I [have] RELEASED All Ov Thoze Who Were [in the Spirit-world] Who ARE WORTHY [all the way back to Adam and Eve] (25:158).” “THEN SHE ROZE-UP, AN SHE GAVE HYM A GREAT EMBRACE (25:163).” “Then THE VIRGIN-MOTHER Looked Be-Hind HYM, An She Saw The GREAT-NUMBERZ THAT HE HAD TAKEN-UP, Out-From The Grave, ALL DRESSED-UP, IN THEIR PURE-WHITE ROBEZ (25:167).” He told her, “I Am Now PRESENTING Them Az THE GREAT-OFFERING BeFore… Father Az I DELIVER Them To PARADISE (25:166).” Mary’s heart was overwhelmed with joy when she realized what her Son had accomplished. Yet, she saw only a touch of His infinite atonement.
Mary Magdalene, His wife, saw Him immediately after. She went from the depts of despair to the heights of ecstasy when He called her name, “Mary (John 20:16).” In some translations, she also embraced the Lord.
Misunderstandings
Over the centuries, there have crept in a lot of misunderstandings in Christianity about the Atonement and some in our church, as well. The Book of Mormon gives us the clearest understanding of the resurrection as part of Infinite Atonement. And, the records of early Christianity help us a great deal also.
Good Friday – A False Tradition
Good Friday is a false tradition of great significance. The Savior was crucified on Thursday and not on Friday. He needed those three days to organize missionary work in Paradise, where he went with the thief on the cross (John 23:42-43).
The Book of Mormon and the Bible are clear about the three days, as well as with other ancient American records. We read in the vision of Samuel the Lamanite of the Savior’s Atonement. “But behold, as I said unto you concerning another sign, a sign of his death, behold, in that day that he shall suffer death the sun shall be darkened and refuse to give his light unto you; and also the moon and the stars; and there shall be no light upon the face of this land, even from the time that he shall suffer death, for the space of three days, to the time that he shall rise again from the dead… darkness should cover the face of the whole earth for the space of three days.” (Helaman 14:20, 27)
Jesus gave the Jews a sign that as “Jonas” spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so would He spend three days and three nights in the “heart of the earth.” (Matt. 12:38-40) I did a podcast with Brian Nettles and Michael Claridge explaining a stone found by Russell Burrows in the Heartland and given to Wayne May. It beautifully displays the Atonement, as taught in the Book of Mormon. The stone clearly depicts the three days. The Lord orchestrated in the Hebrew calendar two Sabbaths in a row for His Infinite Atonement. He had Jonah in the whale’s belly symbolically as well. I share the link for that podcast below.
The Validity of Three Days
We also learn a lot from apocryphal literature on the validity of the three days. Ferrar Fenton’s Bible translated from the original Greek shares the two Sabbaths over the three days of the infinite atonement (John 19:20, and see the footnote to this scripture). Joseph of Arimathea took a gospel of Jesus Christ with him to Britain written before the four gospels. He also took the family of Christ and other dear disciples. The trans-Literation of this gospel by Dezert-Owl mentions the two Sabbaths in a row as well, in conjunction with the Infinite Atonement. (Chapter 25:58)
Seven Steps to The Infinite Atonement
As we study the Infinite Atonement, we find there are seven significant steps that occurred over those three sacred days. Those seven steps changed the world forever. The seven steps are: 1) Gethsemane; 2) Rejected by the Jews; 3) Rejected by the Gentiles (Romans); 4) His crucifixion; 5) He voluntarily gave His life for us, “No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself…” (John 10:18); 6) He spent three days in Paradise organizing missionary work and opening the “prison doors”; and 7) His glorious resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:20-22; 2 Nephi 9:6-8; Alma 42:23).
It is the resurrection that brings us back into the “presence of God.” It is the resurrection for everyone as part of the Infinite Atonement that overcame the physical death brought about by Adam and Eve. With all the repenting we could ever do, we would be lost without the resurrection. Modern saints for the most part and most Christians miss this extremely important Book of Mormon message of the resurrection being part of the Infinite Atonement. President Nelson specifically mentioned the “infinite atonement.”
His glorious resurrection launched early Christianity. After His resurrection, He spent 40 days with the early saints instructing them on the fullness of the gospel—including the temple ceremony and that he was married to Mary Magdalene; see the blog article giving Hugh Nibley’s explanation of Acts 1:3.
Atoning Sacrifice
The Atoning Sacrifice” is a common phrase used in the LDS community. Our gratitude goes to the core of our being for Christ’s Atoning Sacrifice. But, if one assumes that is the same as the Infinite Atonement, talked about in the Book of Mormon, this is a big omission. “Atoning sacrifice” covers our sins, but the phrase leaves out the last two critical steps in the infinite atonement. The phrase “Atoning Sacrifice” is only mentioned once in our scriptures. Joseph F. Smith introduces this phrase in Doctrine and Covenants 138 in the context of his vision of missionary work in the spirit world. In other words, after the Lord finished His “Atoning Sacrifice,” which includes steps 1) through 5) of the Infinite Atonement, He then completed step 6. Can you imagine how many souls benefitted from Him opening up missionary work in the spirit world? Many billions have died having not the opportunity to hear the fullness of the gospel.
You see “Atoning Sacrifice” in the headings of several chapters in the LDS scriptures. It seems that modern saints have lost the vision of the great importance of the glorious resurrection, step 7, as the capstone to the Infinite Atonement. In step 7, Christ’s resurrection was the fire that ignited the flame for ancient Christianity. The same happened as the resurrected Lord visited in America. Chief Midegah (David Taylor) of the Ojibway Tribe told us that the Book of Mormon is not about faith because it is fact. It is their history also. They call Him the “Great Peacemaker.” For them, He is a reality.
Resurrection Morning
As mentioned, Christ’s resurrection is the capstone to the infinite atonement. The Bible barely mentions the resurrection of others: “And the graves were opened and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.” (Matt.27:53-53) Christ had to remind the Nephites of this extremely important event that had not been recorded. (3 Nephi 23:7-13)
Have you thought about how many people were resurrected that morning when Christ broke the bands of death? This first resurrection included all the righteous over the 4,000 years back to Adam and Eve. I surmise that over a million souls came forth from their graves across the globe that glorious Easter morning.
I think you will enjoy a podcast explaining a stone showing the atonement found by Russell Burrows and given to Wayne May: The Semena Santa Stone – David Allan Interview (youtube.com). It beautifully parallels the Book of Mormon story and augments the Bible account as well. It clearly indicates the three days in the grave and visiting the spirit world, and it is an authentic stone inscription. It has been proven to not be fraudulent.
The Infinite Atonement Massively Includes
1. Covers all the “worlds without number.”
2. Glorious resurrection for all of Father’s children according to their thoughts, words, and deeds.
3. Forgiveness of sins for all who repent and come unto His Beloved Son.
4. After the Earth’s baptism with water and fire, moves the Earth to a paradisiacal glory during the Savior’s millennial reign as King of kings and Lord of lords in a terrestrial location in our galaxy.
5. Then the Savior delivers the Earth and His Kingdom to the Father in Celestial realms of glory, at the end of the millennium. This is depicted in the earthworks near Newark, Ohio.
6. And with the perfect final judgment delivers all the terrestrial folks and Telestial folks to their place, and “the glory of the Telestial surpasses all understanding,” (D&C 76:89) which is the lowest kingdom. (1 Corinthians 15:40-43) How merciful is our God.
7. Then the “sons of perdition” have “no forgiveness in this world nor in the world to come… Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having denied the Only Begotten, Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves and put him to an open shame.” They suffer a “second death.” (D&C 76:32-37)
The Infinite Atonement includes the “atoning sacrifice” and so much more.
As great as the “Atoning Sacrifice” is, the massive inclusiveness of the Infinite Atonement leaves us astounded—touching on the incomprehensible greatness and infinitely loving goodness of our God. I pray that we may all live our lives to be the full recipients of the incomprehensible great blessings of the Infinite Atonement.
Here are some complimentary blog articles for your study. It is my desire to help you to know that TRUTH IS LIGHT, and that LIGHT, HIS LIGHT, brings us ever closer to our Creator.
https://itsabouttimebook.com/spiritual-science-seven-steps-in-atonement/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-full-infinite-atonement/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-infinite-atonement-and-paradise/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/resurrection-capstone-of-the-atonement/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-perfect-infinite-atonement/
https://itsabouttimebook.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/New-The-Resurrection-Disproves-The-Theory-of-Evolution.pdf
https://itsabouttimebook.com/the-infinite-atonement-of-jesus-christ/
David W. Allan (10 October 2024)
Photo : Christ – Wikipedia