As Though the Savior Had Already Come

Looking to the Lord’s First Coming

Jarom explained that the Nephites were taught the purpose of the law of Moses: to help them “look forward unto the Messiah, and believe in him to come as though he already was” (Jarom 1:11; emphasis added).

About 275 years later, King Benjamin gave the same message—to “believe that Christ should come … as though he had already come among them” (Mosiah 3:13; emphasis added).

Believing in the Lord with certainty—the way they might if He had already come among them—would increase their faith to look to Him for a remission of their sins (see 2 Nephi 25:24–27). The Nephite prophets taught that even though the Savior hadn’t been born into mortality yet, His Atonement could work in their lives.

The Second Coming, by Harry Anderson

Preparing for the Lord’s Second Coming

Just as in Book of Mormon times, prophets still invite us to “look forward unto the Messiah” (Jarom 1:11) and prepare for His coming:

“We need to make both temporal and spiritual preparation for the events prophesied at the time of the Second Coming.”¹

“One of your important responsibilities is to help prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Savior.”²

“What can we do to prepare now for that day? We can prepare ourselves as a people; we can gather the Lord’s covenant people; and we can help redeem the promise of salvation ‘made to the fathers,’ our ancestors. All of this must occur in some substantial measure before the Lord comes again.”³