Lesson Recap: The Life of Christ

Gospel Principles, Lesson 11

The Life of Christ

Taught by Margie Clark

The life of Christ was predicted long before His birth
“He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief. …

“… Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows. …

“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. …

“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter” (Isaiah 53:3–5, 7).

He was the only begotten of the Father
Jesus is the only person on earth to be born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father. That is why He is called the Only Begotten Son. He inherited divine powers from His Father.

From His mother, Mary, He inherited mortality and was subject to hunger, thirst, fatigue, pain, and death.

No one could take the Savior’s life from Him unless He willed it. He had power to lay it down and power to take up His body again after dying.

He taught us how to love and serve one another
He came to earth not only to die for us but also to teach us how to live. He taught that there are two great commandments: first, to love God with all our heart, mind, and strength; and second, to love others as we love ourselves (see Matthew 22:36–39).

His life is an example of how we should obey these two commandments.

If we love God, we will trust and obey Him, as Jesus did. If we love others, we will help them meet their physical and spiritual needs.

...He taught that whenever we find people hungry, cold, naked, or lonely, we should help them all we can. When we help others, we are serving the Lord. (See Matthew 25:35–46.)

• In what ways can we show the Lord that we love Him? Or in what ways have others served you and so you have felt His love?

Several sisters shared experiences that strengthened their testimonies: one sister with a difficult pregnancy was visited every week by another sister; one sister had very short notice to move and many sisters showed up to help pack everything up; a high priest group pitches in unbidden to clean up a fallen tree in one sister's yard after a storm. 

Each of us can think of a time when someone reached out to us in love and the Savior's love was felt. Please share with us in the comments.

And sisters, let's not let a thought or urge to do something for someone else slip away before we act. We could be means of strengthening another's faith in Jesus Christ.

He redeemed us from our sins and saved us from death
The night before His Crucifixion, Jesus went to a garden called Gethsemane. Soon He was weighed down by deep sorrow and wept as He prayed.

Latter-day Apostle Orson F. Whitney was permitted to see the Savior’s suffering in a vision. Seeing the Savior weep, he said: “I was so moved at the sight that I also wept, out of pure sympathy. My whole heart went out to Him; I loved Him with all my soul, and longed to be with Him as I longed for nothing else”.

Jesus taught: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:13–14).

He willingly and humbly went through the sorrow in Gethsemane and the suffering on the cross so we could receive all the blessings of the plan of salvation. To receive these blessings, we must come unto Him, repent of our sins, and love Him with all our hearts.

“I am the Way”

Elder Corbridge of the Seventy says...

...the Lord said, “I am the way.” He said, “Follow me.” He said, “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.”

Don’t think you can’t.

We might think we can’t really follow Him because the standard of His life is so astonishingly high as to seem unreachable.

We might think it is too hard, too high, too much, beyond our capacity, at least for now.

Don’t ever believe that.

While the standard of the Lord is the highest, don’t ever think it is only reachable by a select few who are most able.

... this is not a human endeavor. It is, rather, the work of God. It is God’s work and it is His “glory … to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” There is nothing else like it. Not anywhere. Not ever.

... while the Lord’s invitation to follow Him is the highest of all, it is also achievable by everyone, not because we are able, but because He is, and because He can make us able too.

He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; … and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30).

Thanks, Margie, great lesson. I love seeing how deeply you feel about the Savior. And, I love hearing all your testimonies of Him.

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