Area Presidency Message
Jesus Christ, Our Sure Hope in Eternal Life
“At this time of Easter, we celebrate the reality of the hope that we have in the abundant life that is available to us because of Jesus Christ.”
Our witness of Jesus Christ rests on a simple and profound doctrine—that He came to earth as the Only Begotten Son of God, sent by the Father to redeem all the children of God who chose the Father’s plan of salvation. He came to redeem from physical death which came by the Fall of Adam. He came to redeem individually and on conditions of repentance from spiritual death, which comes by their own sins. The promise of the Father’s plan is that all who exercise faith in Jesus Christ and keep the commandments of the Father will inherit eternal life. Eternal life is the life of the glorified soul, encompassing the eternal unity of a pure spirit perfected in truth and a glorified body, the soul being continually inclined towards happiness and joy.
Of His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ declared: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”1
At this time of Easter, we celebrate the reality of the hope that we have in the abundant life that is available to us because of Jesus Christ.
We are fortunate to live in these latter days when the witness of the Holy Ghost in our own hearts about the reality of the living Christ is strengthened by multiple recorded testimonies of the prophets whom the Father has raised to witness of Him.
The living prophets of our time have testified: “We bear testimony, as His duly ordained Apostles—that Jesus is the Living Christ, the immortal Son of God . . . who stands today on the right hand of His Father.”2
Joseph Smith, chosen by the Lord to restore His Church again to earth, testified of the appearance of the Father and the Son to him in the First Vision: “I had actually seen a light, and in the midst of that light I saw two Personages, and they did in reality speak to me.”3
He later testified of another appearance of the resurrected Lord to him and to Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple: “His eyes were as a flame of fire; the hair of his head was white like the pure snow; his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and his voice was as the sound of the rushing great waters . . . saying:
“I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.”4
Moroni testified of his hope in the day of his resurrection in these words: “I soon go to rest in the paradise of God, until my spirit and body shall again reunite, and I am brought forth triumphant through the air, to meet you before the pleasing bar of the great Jehovah, the Eternal Judge of both quick and dead.”5
Joseph Smith later testified of seeing Moroni as a resurrected being for the first time: “He had on a loose robe of most exquisite whiteness. It was a whiteness beyond anything earthly I had ever seen; nor do I believe that any earthly thing could be made to appear so exceedingly white and brilliant. His hands were naked, and his arms also, a little above the wrist; so, also, were his feet naked, as were his legs, a little above the ankles. His head and neck were also bare. I could discover that he had no other clothing on but this robe, as it was open, so that I could see into his bosom.
“Not only was his robe exceedingly white, but his whole person was glorious beyond description, and his countenance truly like lightning. The room was exceedingly light, but not so very bright as immediately around his person. When I first looked upon him, I was afraid; but the fear soon left me.
“He called me by name, and said unto me that he was a messenger sent from the presence of God to me, and that his name was Moroni.”6
Peter, the presiding apostle of Christ’s Church who walked with, and was mentored by the Lord, bore the following witness to the people of Israel: that the Christ promised to David by the Lord in prophecy—and who would descend from David himself—had been raised by God as promised. And it was that very same person they had crucified, and who was now exalted—and who furthermore was shedding forth the manifestations of the Holy Ghost that they had seen among themselves.7
During his appearance to the Nephites, the resurrected Christ invited multitudes to come one by one and feel with their own hands the wounds He had suffered on the cross.8
Long before the earthly ministry of Christ, Job testified: “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
“And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:
“Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.”9
Paul testified: “If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.”10
The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is a singular event in human existence. Before it, there was faith but not the certainty that we are privileged to enjoy in our time. So, let our hope in the message of the plan of salvation of the Father be strengthened as we celebrate Easter, in which I greatly rejoice.
Joseph W. Sitati was sustained as a General Authority Seventy in April 2009. He is married to Gladys Nangoni; they are the parents of five children.