Jacob on Being Subject to Christ

Every once in a while I run across something I've written in my journal about the scriptures that seems to be worth sharing. Here's something from 3/31/09...

Today I had to do my scripture study on the internet instead of at home, because I woke up late. But so far it has been productive. I started on 2 Ne. 9 and I noticed this in verse 5:

...it behooveth the great Creator that he suffereth himself to become subject unto man in the flesh, and die for all men, that all men might become subject unto him.

I wondered about that phrase “that all men might become subject unto him” because I thought it sounded like Christ wanted into increase His control over the human race. “I’ll die for everybody, and that will make me their ruler.” But something seemed wrong about that interpretation, so I kept reading.

Then I ran across this in verse 8:

O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.

This clarified things for me. It showed me that if we could not be resurrected and ever get our body back, then we would be subject to the devil, who doesn't have a body. So it became plain to me that in order to escape being subject to the devil (temporally and spiritually), we must be subject temporally and spiritually to someone else instead, and that someone else is Christ.

It is plain the Christ's motive wasn't to gain power, but rather to save us with love. Jacob must have been overwhelmed by this, because his feelings begin to overflow in exclamations of gratitude that are hard to miss. “O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace!” “O how great the goodness of our God” “O how great the plan of our God!” “O the greatness and the justice of our God!” “O the greatness of the mercy of our God, the Holy One of Israel!” “O how great the holiness of our God!” And he intersperses the exclamations with information about the plan of salvation.

I decided that two can play at that game, so I started writing my own exclamations about what I was thankful for.

Oh, how great is the mercy of our God, in giving us Christ as a payment for all sin! For without it, our first sin would have cut us off forever and the rest of our life would be wasted and we would die, never to rise again, and be forever subject to the devil, forever miserable without a body!

Oh, how great is the wisdom of our God in requiring our faith in Christ along with a broken heart as a sacrifice to activate the redeeming power of the Atonement! For He ensures that all those who do this will be saved.

Oh, how great is the deliverance of our God in releasing us from the burden of sin through our repentance! Oh, the lightness and the peace of a clear conscience! Oh, the sweet security of receiving purified desires through sincere prayer and submission to the will of God! For evil becomes abhorrent and ugly, and good which previously seemed boring and burdensome becomes attractive.

Oh, how great are the ordinances of our God, whereby man can witness through the acts of the body their willingness to obey and receive the promise of entrance into the kingdom of God! And faithful obedience brings satisfaction and peace and greater confidence to obey the commandments.

Oh, how great is the guidance of our God through the Holy Ghost! For it is the privilege of the repentant and meek to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, to be guided and taught from on high, to receive mysteries of God line upon line until they know them in full, to be comforted and strengthened in tribulation, to have revealed all things necessary in their times and seasons! Oh the loneliness of being without God in the world and walking in darkness!

Oh, how great are the commandments of our God! For none are the least superfluous or vain, but they school man to the full character and stature of God. And all bring happiness and wrap the obedient in a cloak of blessing.

Oh, how great is the determination and justice of our God! For His purposes are not frustrated and His work rolls forth and He executes all His laws and none are exempted from them.

Oh, how great the patience of our God! For He continues to call on all men to repent and come to Him, sending divers messengers at times and seasons.

Oh, how great is the restoration and judgment of our God, when that day comes that all men will be restored to their bodies, and when they will have a perfect knowledge of their lives and see with clear sight the significance of their acts. Then will the righteous rejoice because the reward of their good works shall be given them, and their sins have already been covered by Christ’s Atonement and their repentance. Then will the wicked weep and wail, for their memories and their sins will burden them and they will wish they could cease to exist. And God will render to every man according to their works.

Oh, how great is our Christ, how great His submission to the will of the Father in all things, even to humiliation and rejection and torture and a cruel death! Oh, how great His fortitude, holding His life in His hand all the time and drinking every drop of the bitter cup full of our ugly sins!

What exclamations of gratitude would you add?