Christ‘s Atonement in the Heavens and in the Heart | L. Robert Webb | 1998

The Atonement of Jesus Christ is both vast enough to apply to the entirety of the universe and intimate enough to support us in our individual trials.

This speech was given November 16, 1998.

Read the speech here:
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/l-robert-webb/vast-intimate-atonement-heavens-heart/

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"Last spring when I received the assignment to give this talk, I was speaking with a colleague. “I have to give a BYU devotional talk next fall. That will probably ruin my summer,” I explained in reference to having the task of preparation hanging over my head.

Not losing a beat, he quipped wryly in return, “It will probably ruin our fall!”

You see that I have some good friends—many of whom are here today. I am grateful for that.

As I speak today, I will heed the advice of my sophomore son, who said, “Dad, what the students want you to do is tell stories.” While I was preparing this talk he peered at my computer screen and cautioned, “Quite a few big words there, Dad.” I will try not to ruin your fall, and I will try to tell some stories and experiences that I hope will be faith promoting.

As you have noticed, the title for my address is “Vast and Intimate: The Atonement in the Heavens and in the Heart.” I hope that does not seem presumptuous. I do not consider myself an authority on the doctrine or a spokesman for the Church. I have prepared and discarded several talks on other subjects before returning to this one. In my consternation over what to say, I asked this same son, who is a BYU student, to give me a blessing. That tender, shared experience with the Spirit led me back to the topic of the Atonement, which is a topic that has deep, personal meaning for me. I have felt its blessings in my own life and have observed them in the lives of others.

As I speak about the Atonement of Jesus Christ this morning, I will give a scriptural foundation for what I wish to say. Then I will share some personal experiences that have made these verses of scripture vivid and instructive for me. Finally, I will reflect on the majesty and magnitude of the Atonement. I hope that my deep conviction of the divinity of the Savior and my gratitude for his redemption runs through the whole of the presentation.

I take as a scriptural theme three verses from 3 Nephi 27 in the Book of Mormon. These verses are part of the Savior’s own words to the Nephite disciples following his resurrection and appearance at the temple in Bountiful to about 2,500 faithful people who saw for themselves that this was the God of Israel and that his body bore the marks of the Crucifixion. In this great sermon Christ named his church and described his mission, his gospel, and the central place of atonement in the gospel plan. Verses 13–15 read:

Behold, I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you—that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me.

And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me, that as I have been lifted up by men even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil—

And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works. [3 Nephi 27:13-15; emphasis added]

Please keep this passage in mind as I now share a personal experience as a kind of metaphor for understanding our utter dependence upon the Savior in our trials and separations and for understanding his willingness to reach out and draw us to him through the power of the Atonement.

Some years ago, when I was much more fit and foolhardy, some friends and I decided to climb Gannett Peak, the highest mountain in Wyoming. Surrounded by the Wind River Range, this gorgeous, towering granite pinnacle rises nearly 14,000 feet, emerging at its summit from a permanent glacier that must be crossed to reach the mountaintop. After a long backpack trip along the trail, we camped and spent the night. Early the next morning we hiked the rest of the trail to the foot of the mountain, where we would begin our mountain assault, equipped with gaiters, crampons, ice axes, special climbing ropes, and carabiners—those oblong metal rings connected to a safety rope that snap to one’s harness. Although we were merely novices, we were determined to get to the top."

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