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2014-05-00-ensign-eng

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thoughts. Because He redeemed usfrom the Fall, our lives are in realityHis. He declared:“Behold I have given unto you mygospel, and this is the gospel which Ihave given unto you—that I came intothe world to do the will of my Father,because my Father sent me.“And my Father sent me that Imight be lifted up upon the cross; andafter that I had been lifted up uponthe cross, that I might draw all menunto me, that as I have been lifted upby men even so should men be liftedup by the Father, to stand before me,to be judged of their works.” 24Consider for a moment the significanceof the Resurrection in resolvingonce and for all the true identityof Jesus of Nazareth and the greatphilosophical contests and questionsof life. If Jesus was in fact literally resurrected,it necessarily follows that Heis a divine being. No mere mortal hasthe power in himself to come to lifeagain after dying. Because He was resurrected,Jesus cannot have been onlya carpenter, a teacher, a rabbi, or aprophet. Because He was resurrected,Jesus had to have been a God, eventhe Only Begotten Son of the Father.Therefore, what He taught is true;God cannot lie. 25Therefore, He was the Creator ofthe earth, as He said. 26Therefore, heaven and hell are real,as He taught. 27Therefore, there is a world of spirits,which He visited after His death. 28Therefore, He will come again, asthe angels said, 29 and “reign personallyupon the earth.” 30Therefore, there is a resurrectionand a final judgment for all. 31Given the reality of the Resur rectionof Christ, doubts about the omnipotence,omniscience, and benevolenceof God the Father—who gave HisOnly Begotten Son for the redemptionof the world—are groundless. Doubtsabout the meaning and purpose oflife are unfounded. Jesus Christ is infact the only name or way by whichsalvation can come to mankind. Thegrace of Christ is real, affording bothforgiveness and cleansing to therepentant sinner. Faith truly is morethan imagination or psychologicalinvention. There is ultimate and universaltruth, and there are objectiveand unchanging moral standards, astaught by Him.Given the reality of the Resurrectionof Christ, repentance of any violationof His law and commandments isboth possible and urgent. The Savior’smiracles were real, as is His promiseto His disciples that they might do thesame and even greater works. 32 Hispriesthood is necessarily a real powerthat “administereth the gospel andholdeth the key of the mysteries of theMay <strong>2014</strong>113

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