There Must Needs Be a Christ | Kyle S. McKay | 2021

Kyle S. McKay shares why we need to embrace the plan of God and the doctrine of Christ; Christ can undo wrongs and provide healing.

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"Jennifer and I are filled with joy and gratitude to be here with you today. In the fall of 1978, we were both freshmen at BYU and in the same ward. We never spoke, but we knew of each other. Five years later, after we had both served missions, we finally became acquainted and began dating. And thirty-seven years after that, it is sweet to have another date here on this campus.

We recognize that college life is fun, but not always. A few weeks ago, our three-year-old granddaughter was moaning, whimpering, and even crying.

Jennifer bent down and said, “Katherine, what’s happening? Whyever are you crying?”

Little Katherine, with her big brown eyes, looked up and, in a quivering voice, said, “Oh, Grandma, I don’t want to go away to college.”

There are some of you who might feel that way now. Just know that there is a little three-year-old girl out there who feels your pain.

My prayer today is that the Spirit, who has guided and attended my preparations, might now magnify this important message in your hearts.

The Doctrine of Christ

Near the end of his ministry, Nephi declared, with some urgency, “I must speak concerning the doctrine of Christ.”1 He then spoke or wrote of faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end—principles and ordinances he identified as the doctrine of Christ. As I have thought about and prayed for you in preparation for this assignment, I have been filled with a similar sense of urgency. Today, I feel that I must speak concerning the doctrine of Christ. In doing so, however, I speak of a doctrine even more foundational than the principles and ordinances identified by Nephi as the doctrine of Christ. I speak of the core belief and simple doctrine that there must needs be a Christ. That is what I mean today when I use the phrase ­“doctrine of Christ.” Naturally, if there must needs be a Christ, then His identity is just as important as His existence.

In the scriptures, we read how this doctrine of Christ has been disputed, debated, and defended throughout the ages.2 I find it interesting that the people among whom Jesus came during His mortal ministry did not reject the doctrine of Christ. They believed in a Messiah and Deliverer. They were not anti-Christ; they were anti-Jesus.

By contrast, the antagonists in this land during Book of Mormon times were not necessarily against the person of Jesus. They seldom got to His identity. Instead, they rejected the very idea of a Christ. They did not recognize the need for a Messiah or Redeemer. They were anti-Christ. The sophisticated secularists of our day seem to resemble more closely those found in the Book of Mormon. Indeed, the Book of Mormon is both testament and type.

As you know, many nations of the earth have begun to identify themselves as “post-Christian.” In this country, it seems that those who make such a claim or push such a movement are also the ones asserting that this country was not established on Christian or Judeo-Christian values. These anti-Christian crusaders are not looking beyond the mark, as did biblical Jews; rather, they are seeking to erase the mark altogether—blotting it out through rules and revisions, “seeking to put down all power and authority which cometh from God,”3 just as the Nephites did on the eve of their destruction. You may have observed, as I have, the difficulty of simultaneously arguing that this nation was not founded on Christian values and that, after 250 years, this nation is now “post-Christian.” Arguments against the doctrine of Christ often lack logic,4 but they are almost always flattering and enticing.

In December 2017, Elder D. Todd Christofferson delivered a Christmas message on this campus. I commend it to you, particularly those portions that were reprinted in the December 2020 issue of the Ensign under the title “Why We Need Jesus Christ.”5 To Elder Christofferson’s message I add my own witness and observations as I seek to explore and answer what Amulek called “the great question which is . . . whether there shall be [a] Christ..."

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